


Fading Fear

by darumasama



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Eventual Fluff, Eventual Happy Ending, Kind of like Beauty and the Beast, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Suicidal Thoughts, Tags Are Hard, apollo is a softy for his kids, inner struggle with being gay, oh yeah everyone is a dork by the way, post trials of apollo, solangelo love, there may be some crying by you and me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-02
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-07-19 15:19:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 52,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7366999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darumasama/pseuds/darumasama
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An ancient curse. A castle trapped between time and space. A fading Ghost King. A chosen sacrifice. When you can defy the Fates, only to be trapped in a never-ending nightmare. Can love really conquer all? (I suck at summaries, sorry.)<br/>[Takes place Post Trials of Apollo even though it hasn't finished yet. Will contain spoilers for the Hidden Oracle.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Ghost King

**Author's Note:**

> So I was watching Beauty and the Beast, only my favorite Disney movie for many reasons while reading Solangelo fanfiction. Yep, I know. Great combo right? Well, that is where this came from. I apologize now for any errors there might be and no Solangelo yet, but there will be probably by chapter 3. I think this story will be about 14 chapters. I have it all planned out in my head, but we all know that can change. I am hoping to update maybe once a week, but life is messy so no promises. Enjoy.

### The Ghost King

In a world where Greek and Roman myths are in fact not myths at all, things such as monsters, pegasi, hippocampi, demigods, centaurs, staytrs and more are considered normal, there are some things that even this ‘mythological’ world can’t explain. Things that even the Fates themselves puzzle at when trying to carve the road of the few that escape their very clutches. Those who walk a fine line between stability and chaos. Those whose very existence or absence can bend the Fate’s design, warping time and space beyond what the gods could ever imagine. This is the story of an unknowing boy caught between time and space where neither gods nor Fates can go, cursed until someone helps light the way.

*****

Will released a heavy sigh as he finally put everything in the infirmary back in its proper place. During slow days there were few people to tend to and even fewer things to organize allowing time to think various things. However, today was not one of those slow days because of another three-legged race through the labyrinth booby trapped with various deadly items brought to you proudly by the kids of the Hephaestus cabin. First there was a girl from the Athena cabin with a giant bite mark across her back and chest from a large creature that probably could have swallowed her whole, but chose to throw her around like a rag-doll. Then there was a boy from the Hephaestus cabin with second and third degree burns from one of the booby traps backfiring on him. Another, newer camper that had yet to be claimed came in with a large blister the size of a tennis ball on his right arm which was oozing a horrendous smelling green puss. Those were only a small fraction of the dozens of injuries that had kept walking into the infirmary throughout the entirety of the three-legged race. Of course he had the help of some his siblings, but none were nearly as gifted at healing as he was and today was one of those days where his gifts were stretched to its limits.

Another sigh escaped Will’s lips as he recounted the injuries of the day, resting his forehead against the cool wooden door of one of the medical cabinets. He was exhausted, there was no denying that, but he still had rounds to do before he left the infirmary for the night. Slowly he pushed himself away from the cabinet and walked to the various occupied cots, twelve in all, checking their vitals and wounds before finally leaving the infirmary well after curfew. However, being in charge of the infirmary had its benefits considering the harpies always ignored him allowing to do as he pleased to check on patients from time to time. 

The cold night air clung to his warm skin as if it was the only source of heat in the world causing him to shiver in response. Normally the cold never bothered him, he was always sporting flip flops, shorts and the orange camp half-blood t-shirt even well after the snow had started to fall. However, that was not the case tonight and he came to the conclusion that it had to do with him over-exerting himself a little today. Thankfully, tomorrow was the traditional Winter Solstice campfire where they sat around telling different stories of the Greek and Roman heroes meaning he could sleep in a little longer than usual. Not wanting to be outside in the cold any longer, he quickly darted across the field between the main house and the Apollo cabin. Before he could even open the door, it flew open on its own to reveal a very angry sister staring up at him.

“You should have been in bed hours ago.” Kayla frowned crossing her arms over her chest and tapping her foot in irritation.

“Sorry,” Will chuckled with a bright smile. “The infirmary was a mess after today and somebody had to clean it.”

“I’ll take over the infirmary tomorrow,” she stated leaving no room for argument. “I know you exhausted yourself today healing everyone, so you are on strict bed-rest until the bonfire tomorrow night...” she paused to look at the moon in the sky. “Tonight,” she said correcting herself.

“Doctor’s orders?” he replied with a sheepish grin.

“Doctor’s orders,” she smiled back at him before stepping out of the way granting him access into the Apollo cabin. They both made their way to their own bunks, Kayla to the left on the girls’ side of the cabin and Will to the right to the boys’. Will quickly changed into his pajamas, brushed his teeth and fell asleep the moment his head hit his pillow, but it wasn’t the restful sleep he was going to get tonight. The nightmare of a boy literally fading away in his arms haunted him throughout the night.

*****

Will woke up the next morning more exhausted than the previous day all because of the nightmare that kept repeating itself over and over in his dreams. He couldn’t remember the boy’s face, but he remembered terror the boy felt as he faded away into nothing and there was nothing Will could do to save him. Every time the nightmare repeated itself, Will would try a different hymn to his father hoping it would keep the boy from fading, but no matter what hymn he sung, the boy still faded into nothingness and he would feel like he had lost a part of himself.

A tear crept down his freckled check bringing his attention to the fact that he was crying, but unsure as to why the nightmare upset him so much. He had watched people die in the war against Kronos and again against Gaea. He had mourned the loss of his siblings, friends and comrades feeling as if he had failed them as a healer, but this sorrow he felt now was different. It was deeper than he had ever felt before as if he had lost a part of himself and was no longer whole.

Outside laughter derailed his dark thoughts, reminding him that he should try to get some rest before he checked on the patients in the infirmary then heading to campfire. Glancing outside at the slow rising sun, he could tell that it was still early in the morning and while most of the campers would still be asleep, he was alone in the Apollo cabin. Of course it was normal for the children of Apollo to rise with the sun, a fact that he was grateful for now. It meant that none of his siblings would see the tears he was crying for reasons unknown to him. He hated crying in front of others because he was a healer, and he wanted people to be happy when they were around him.

For hours Will stayed in his bed looking up at the ceiling trying everything in his power to fall back asleep. However, every time he closed his eyes all he could see was the boy slowly fading away and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Every time he saw that image fresh tears would fill his eyes, threatening to break free. When the sun was well past its halfway point in the sky, he finally gave in to the fact that he wasn’t going to get any kind of sleep before the campfire so he might as well get up and get ready. He lazily dragged himself out of bed and towards the bathroom, only to look into the mirror and realize that he looked like an absolute mess. His eyes were red and puffy from crying, there were dark heavy rings under his eyes from the lack of sleep and even his normally tan skin looked paler than normal. An irritated chuckle escaped him as he gripped the sink with both hands looking down at nothing in particular. Kayla would be upset if she saw him like this and would try to convince Chiron that he needed to be on bed-rest for a couple of days. As much as he hated crying in front of others, he hated it even more when other took care of him or lectured him about his health. He was the best healer of the both camps and could only imagine how it would look if he had to be the one healed. He wasn’t the best at archery unlike the rest of his siblings or even fighting for that matter, the only thing he was good at was healing and if he couldn’t even do that...

Will shook his head becoming more frustrated with himself for thinking such unhappy thoughts. He needed to thinking about better things if he was going to keep a smile on his face and Kayla from worrying about him. Without a second thought, he turned on the shower, stripped from his clothes and stepped into the warm water, letting it wash away everything he had been thinking about since he woke up.

*****

“What are you doing here?" Kayla scolded with a hand on her hip, when she saw Will enter the infirmary. He just gave her one of his lopsided smiles feigning innocence before he moved towards the patient closest to him. She let out a frustrated sigh as she stormed over to her brother, grabbed his arm and yanked in into the small office.

“Seriously?” she growled pinching her nose in frustration. “I told you to rest and I would take care of the infirmary today. Why are you here?”

“You really think a child of Apollo can sleep during the day?” Will asked with a small chuckle. She looked up at her brother taking note that he still looked like he hadn’t slept which only made her frustration grow.

“Did you even sleep?” she asked.

“Yes and no.” he admitted with a soft sigh. She just looked at him begging for him to explain before she had to rip it out of him.

“I kept having this nightmare,” Will continued when she said nothing. “It was about this boy fading into nothingness and no matter what I did he would still fade.”

Kayla noticed her brother start to tear up and gently took his face between her hand, wiping away the slowly forming tears with her thumbs. After they had lost Michael in the Kronos war, Will was forced to step up as the head of the Apollo cabin. To the outside eye Will was the perfect cabin head and healer, but she knew him better than that. She knew he had doubts about his place and status at the camp and yet he always put on a smile to make everyone else happy. It was moments like this that she was glad he had finally opened up to her so he wouldn’t have to be alone.

“You can’t save everyone Will.” she said softly as she gently tilted his head towards her so their eyes met. “But you are one of the best healers world has ever known and because of that many of the people here would have died without you. We would have lost the war with Kronos if you hadn’t healed Annabeth. Don’t let a silly nightmare get to you.”

“You’re right,” he sighed. “It is just this nightmare seemed so different from the ones I had after Michael died.”

“Don’t worry,” she smiled. “The Winter Solstice campfire and party will be starting soon and we all know the way Leo tells stories you can’t help but laugh.”

“Thanks Kayla,” Will says softly as he pulls her into a hug. “I honestly don’t know what I would do without you.”

“Probably bother Lou Ellen more,” she comments causing him to laugh. She gently pushes him away and out the office door. “Now get out of here and stop worrying so much. I’ll meet you at the campfire.”

“I’ll save you a seat,” he replies with a small salute.

“As much as I would love to sit by you, we all know that Cecil and Lou Ellen will claim those spots.” she laughed as he simply shrugged before leaving the infirmary. 

*****

Will watched the sun was slowly disappear below the horizon announcing to all campers that the campfire was about to begin. He was feeling much better after talking to Kayla about the nightmare, but felt a bit guilty not telling her the entirety of the reason it upset him so much. Not that he could even begin to describe the feeling because he didn’t really understand it himself.

“WILL!!!” Cecil shouted from across the field while making a mad dash towards him. Within seconds the son of Hermes was on his back like a demented spider monkey. It took all of Will’s strength to keep both of them from eating dirt.

“Cecil!” Will groaned. “What are you doing?”

“Where have you been all day?” the son of Hermes whined. “I wanted to show you something before everything starts, but you have like been MIA the entire day.”

“Sorry,” he apologizes finally managing to get the other boy off his back. “It was a busy at the infirmary the other day and Kayla insisted I took the day off to recover.”

“You still look like shit,” Cecil bluntly stated.

“Thanks.” 

“That’s what best friends are for,” Cecil grinned.

“Boo!” Lou Ellen said as she appeared seemingly out of nowhere causing both boys to jump in surprise only making her laugh in response. “You better be careful of the Ghost King, otherwise he’ll get you and take your soul.”

“Hardy har har,” Cecil replied with a roll of his eyes. “That story is nothing more than Chiron’s way of scaring us to keep us out of the forest at night. There is no such thing as the Ghost King.”

“Who’s the Ghost King?” a new girl from the Dionysus cabin asked as more campers filter in around the fire.

“Well,” Lou Ellen started. “A long time ago, during the first forming of camp half-blood, there was a demigod that was said to be so powerful he could write his own fate and there was nothing the gods or Fates themselves could do about it.” She paused for dramatic effect as everyone waited in anticipation as to what was going to happen next regardless if they had heard the story or not.

“Fearful that this demigod would awaken Chaos itself,” she continued. “both titans and gods alike joined together to trap him in a magical prison that even he couldn’t escape. The prison is a castle that floats through time and space only appearing on the Winter Solstice every hundred years. It is said that the Ghost King’s castle appears here in camp half-blood’s forest so he can drain the soul from another demigod, keeping himself alive longer in order to find a way to escape and take revenge on the gods that put him there.”

“He can’t escape can he?” one of the younger campers asked with terrified eyes.

“Maybe,” Lou Ellen said with a mischievous smile. “For you see the Ghost King could defy the Fates and the gods, but they were smart when trapping him. They used his powers against him, making him move the the giant castle through time and space draining him to the point of being on the verge of death. If it was a normal demigod they would have died, but remember, he could defy the Fates thus he is forever trapped only ever to rest the castle long enough to steal one unlucky demigod every hundred years to regain his strength before moving the castle again. So you better be careful on the Winter Solstice, because you never know when the Ghost King’s castle will appear and come looking for a soul to regain his strength. For if you are chosen by the skull ring, you will become his next victim.”

“But the story isn’t true,” said Katie Gardener trying to comfort one of her newer siblings. “It is just a scary story for fun.”

“It is not just a story,” Chiron replied grimly looking down at the demigods. “It is very true and this is the Winter Solstice the Ghost King’s castle shall return.”

“Come on Chiron,” Cecil laughed. “You really expect us to believe that there was a demigod strong enough to defy the Fates and the gods?”  
Will, along with the rest of the campers, all just stared at Chiron expecting him to say ‘Just kidding’, but the centaur just looked sadly towards the forest. Not that he knew Chiron to be the joking type, but it was rumored that it occasionally happened. His gaze followed the centaur’s towards the forest that looked more ominous than he remembers with mist thickening making it almost impossible to see anything inside other the trees at the boarder. He jumped slightly when Lou Ellen stood suddenly glaring daggers at the forest as if it had insulted her.

“That mist,” she said breaking the silence. “There is something wrong with it.” Being a child of Hecate no one questioned her since they could manipulate the Mist that shrouded their wrong from the rest of the world. Before anyone could say anything else, a small red light appeared in the forest sitting there for a brief moment then darting full force towards everyone at the campfire.


	2. Chosen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Spoiler Alert***  
> There is a brief mention of the beginning of the Trials of Apollo, but to be honest, it only talks about Zeus' punishment to Apollo
> 
> Okay, so I am probably going to eventually rewrite the first chapter, because it is pretty awful. Thanks for the kudos though, you guys are great! I have a feeling that this story will hopefully update relatively quickly since I need to get it all out of my head before my muses leave me.
> 
> I should also note that I might change the rating later on since I rated it M just in case I got a little crazy, but we will have to see.

Chiron stood on the porch of the main house looking over the camp and watching the demigods prepare for the Winter Solstice campfire celebration. Little did they know it wasn’t going to be a celebration for long. This year was the year the Ghost King’s castle would return to claim another demigod’s life. He had contemplated taking all the campers to Camp Jupiter on the west coast in an attempt to keep them all safe, but he knew it would be a wasted effort.

When the castle had first arrived, it was during the early beginnings of Camp Half-blood on the Winter Solstice. A boy from the Poseidon cabin went missing and by the next sunrise the castle was gone. At the time there was some worry about a camper going missing, but when no one else disappeared it was just brushed off as the son of Poseidon just left on his own as such was common during those times. After a hundred years had passed the castle returned to claim its second victim, a boy from the Zeus cabin. Nevertheless, the king of the gods was not pleased when he received word that one of his children went missing. The gods searched far and wide for the castle, but no matter where they searched or what powers they used, the castle remained out of their grasps. Another hundred years went by, but this time the gods waited in the forest for the castle to appear to unleash their full power against it. Yet nothing seemed to damage the castle with only one being able to enter, a son of Apollo that had been chosen. When the Fates were asked which child would be taken next, they remained silent, unable to see which life would be cut short when the castle arrived. Even the Oracle of Delphi could not predict anything concerning the castle. Hades even mentioned that the souls of those selected to enter the castle never entered the underworld. 

As the years past, both Chiron and the gods attempted to keep the demigods safe, but all was in vain. It didn’t matter if they were all in their cabins, gone from camp, in a barrier forged by the gods, or even on Mt. Olympus itself, someone was always chosen. The skull ring would always appear with its ominous red glow and fit itself nice and tight on the left ring figure marking its next victim. Trying to remove the ring was just as hopeless as trying to keep it from appearing every hundred years on the Winter Solstice. One thing they knew for sure was that the ring always chose a boy and seemed to favor the children of Apollo. It came to the point where Zeus ordered all the gods not to enter the mortal realm 30 years before the castle would arrive in a desperate attempt to destroy the castle. Of course, even the king of gods couldn’t follow his very own command when the world fell into the dark ages where titans and monsters held the most power with no demigods to defeat them. It was obvious that the gods needed demigods to keep the peace, accomplishing the tasks they weren’t able to do themselves. Thus, the campfire on every Winter Solstice started with the story of the Ghost King as the main event. 

Again, Chiron looked out over the camp with a heavy heart. It was common knowledge that most demigods lived short lives with most of them ending tragically, but there was something more tragic about being chosen to die. A warm presence appeared next to him and without looking he already knew it was Apollo. The sun god had appeared at the camp every hundred years, against Zeus’ wishes, to look at his children before one of them disappeared forever. While the castle didn’t always take a son of Apollo, it seemed the sun god’s children were targeted the most.

“I don’t know if I can handle losing another child this way.” the sun god sighed as he leaned forward to rest his arms against the railing, his eyes falling on the Apollo cabin off in the distance.

“It might not be your child this year.” Chiron replied sullenly. “It is not like one of yours is chosen every year.”

“I know,” Apollo frowned looking down at his hands sadly. “It is just I messed up. I knew that cursed castle was going to return soon and yet I still fell for so many mortals. It has been so long since I have had this many children at the camp.” The centaur looked over at the god a bit surprised he admitted to making a wrong choice. Normally gods are stubborn and would rather the world to end before admitting they were wrong, which unfortunately happens from time to time.

“Maybe there is a reason for that.” Chiron answered not really believing the words he spoke, but still hoping nonetheless. “While the Fates might not have control over these events, things still happen for a reason. It may be that only one of your children can end this tragic cycle. Maybe this will be the end?”

“I hope you’re right, Chiron.” Apollo sighed as he watched some of his children practice their instruments. Before the centaur could say anything further, the sun god disappeared with a flash of light.

*****

Will let out a groan as he looked up at a blur of faces above him. He remembered he had been hit by something with such force that he was thrown across the field, but he couldn’t remember what had hit him. There was the hum of voices around him, too loud for his head to handle causing him to close his eyes and bring his hand to his head with a groan. He gently felt around his head hoping to his father that he didn’t get a concussion from his tumble which would be beyond embarrassing. Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be any signs of a concussion, just a nasty bump along his right temple that was more than likely the culprit for his current state.

“Will,” someone said in a soft voice which he was thankful for. He slowly forced his eyes open to see Kayla’s tear streaked face. “Oh gods Will, what were you thinking you idiot?”

“What?” he asked horsely blinking his eyes trying get everything to come into focus. He had no idea what his sister was talking about. When he tried to remember what happened, pain shot through his head causing him to hiss in pain. A gently hand found its way to where he hit his head and a soft warm feeling started to spread though his body which he knew was the healing powers of his sister.

“I’m sorry I can’t heal it all at once,” she apologized as the warmth started to fade. “Unfortunately the rest of us aren’t as gifted at healing as you.”

“It’s okay Kayla,” Will chuckled softly as the pain in his head was just a soft throbbing now. “I feel much better, thank you.” With his sister’s help, he sat up only to notice the entire camp was circled around him with looks of horror written on all their faces which sent a chill down his spine. He could sense that something was wrong, but had no idea as to what he had done to earn such looks.

“Will Solace,” Chiron said as he emerged from the crowd. “We has much to discuss and very little time. Can you stand?”

“I think so,” Will answered as he attempted to stand relying slightly on Kayla for support until he he found his legs.

“Come with me to the main house.” the centaur said as he made his slowly left the crowd with a confused son of Apollo following close behind.

Will remained silent as he followed next to the centaur heading up to the main house feeling the eyes of everyone seemingly burning a hole into his back. It seemed like everyone was in on a secret and conveniently left him out to spare his feelings. Now he walked like a man condemned for something he couldn’t even remember. 

The moon’s bright light caused the main house to cast a dark ominous shadow on them as the pair made their way across the field. Their footsteps seemed to echo against the wooden planks of the porch and the door’s usually silent creak seemed too loud in his ears. Right as he entered the main house he sensed a familiar warm presence which embraced him into a gentle hug.

“I’m so sorry, Will.” his father said quietly as he tightened his hold a bit.

“Sorry for what?” Will asked unsure as to why his father would be apologizing. Then again, he had no idea what was even going on, only knowing that if Apollo was here and apologizing it couldn’t be anything good. His father released him from the hug, but his hands still remaining on his shoulder allowing Will to actually look at his father. The sun god’s eyes were red and puffy most likely from crying, his naturally tan skin was pale and his usual bright smile was gone. So many things were happening that didn’t make any sense, but before he could ask his father Chiron cleared his throat and gestured over towards the couches. Both Apollo and Will made their way over to the couch as Chiron sat in his special chair that effectively hide his horse half making him look like a human sitting down. The silence and tension in the room was so thick that Will wouldn’t be surprised if he would soon be suffocated by it.

“Will,” Chiron finally said breaking the silence. “You know the story of the Ghost King, correct?”

“Yeah,” he answered a little confused as to why the centaur was bringing up that story. “It is told every Winter Solstice. Why?”

“It is true.” Chiron simply stated. “And you have been chosen.” The centaur gestured to the skull ring on Will’s left ring finger. A ring that he had been unknowingly twisting around his finger as if he had worn it his entire life. With that simple statement, everything that he had conveniently forgot came crashing back to him. They were at the campfire with Lou Ellen telling the story of the Ghost King when Chiron had arrived telling them that the story was actually true. The red light had appeared in the forest shortly afterwards with only a moment of hesitation before darting directly towards one of his younger brothers. Without even thinking, he had thrown himself in front of his brother protectively only to be thrown by the impact as the red light collided with him which would explain being thrown across the field, waking up with a bump on his head and everyone gathered around him.

“Oh,” was the only sound he could make as he stared blankly at the skull ring, its red jeweled eyes shimmered briefly as if saying ‘yes you are mine now’.

“The Ghost King,” Apollo said with a heavy sigh. “he tends to favor picking my children and for that I am sorry.”

“So what do I have to do?” Will asked feeling like he should treat it like a quest instead of walking to his impending doom. At least if he pretended it was a quest, he could also pretend that he would be able to come back from it.

“You have until sunrise to go to the castle that has appeared in the forest.” Chiron replied looking out the window towards the forest now shrouded in a thick mist.

“And if I don’t?” he asked as his his gaze followed Chiron’s towards the forest. The Ghost King’s castle couldn’t be seen from where they were, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t there lurking in the shadows.

“It will summon you regardless of where you are.” the centaur stated matter-of-factly suggesting that they had tried literally everything to keep someone from being chosen, but had always failed.

“What do I do once I am in the castle?” Will continued. “Fight the Ghost King?”

“Yes,” his father finally said. “If you can defeat the Ghost King then the curse will be broken. I have given many items to my children over the years to try an aid them, but nothing helped. Which is why this time I am going to give you my bow regardless of how angry HE is going to get.” There was a brief flash of light as he summoned his bow then proceeding to hand it to his son.

“B-but father,” Will stammered completely stunned that the sun god would give anyone his bow. “I-I...I am not the greatest archer. What if I fail? Would your bow be lost forever?”

“I don’t care if my bow is lost forever” Apollo replied with a seriousness that Will had never seen before. “What I do care about is my children. Even though the gods aren’t supposed to meddle too much with the lives of their children, this is the one exception. The Ghost King and his castle are not controlled by the Fates and cannot be touched by the gods. It is in its own realm, doing its own thing. If giving up my bow to you can stop it, then so be it. Now take it.” 

Will just stared at the bow in his father’s hand as if it was the monstrous Python his father had fought all those years ago. For all he knew the bow could make his spontaneously combust into flames or bring upon him all the plagues the world had ever know the moment he touched it. Although he had to ask himself, would that really be all that bad compared to having to go the Ghost Kings castle and fight? Even if his father’s bow did kill him, which he doubted it would otherwise Apollo would have never offered it to him to begin with, would the Ghost King’s curse be broken or would it chose another?  
“It’s not going to kill you,” Apollo sighed as if reading Will’s thoughts. “You are my son and I am offering it to you. Now please take it.”

Will couldn’t find his voice to speak so he chose to nod his head instead as he delicately took the bow from his father. The bow hummed softly in his hand and was warm to the touch as if it were in fact alive, of course it wouldn’t be surprising if it was.

“You do not need arrows for it,” Apollo explained. “Simply pull the string back and it will do the rest. I will try to feed it power as much as I can, but I do not know if it will be able reach you once your in the Ghost King’s castle. If that is the case then it will draw from your own power so use it wisely.”

Will tried to say something, but the words were forgotten the moment his lips tried to form them. All he could do was look into his father’s deep blue eyes before pulling him into a hug. Ever since Zeus had punished Apollo to be human until he regained his powers over the Oracle of Delphi, the sun god visited the camp more frequently as well as assisting demigods on their quests, much to Zeus’ displeasure. It was obvious that giving a demigod a gods’ weapon was only going to anger the king of gods further, but it showed that the sun god was beyond caring about his father’s wrath. 

“Thank you,” Will whispered softly, finally able to find the right words to say.

“Break the curse,” Apollo replied as he wrapped his arms around his son. “Come back safely and then you can thank me.” The sun god sighed softly before pulling out of the hug and giving his son a soft smile. “I have to go. You should go pack and talk to your friends before sunrise.”

Before Will could say anything further to his father, there was a blinding flash of light and the sun god was gone. He looked down at the golden bow still in his hand wondering if he would be able to live up to his father’s expectations of defeating an impossible curse or even being able to return it. The weight of the skies that Atlas carried on his shoulders didn’t seem to even compare to the weight of everything he felt now.

“You should go see your friends,” Chiron said quietly as he handed him a satchel. “It has the basic necessities inside, but you can always pack more.”

“Thank you,” Will replied as he took the satchel.

“Now go,” Chiron ordered. Without another word, Will slung the bow around his shoulders and headed out of the main house only to be greeted by every camper outside each curious as to what was going to happen next.

*****

Will groaned as he leaned against the closed door of the Hecate cabin beyond thankful for Lou Ellen’s supreme control over the mist and Cecil’s powers to always cause a ruckus during any situation. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk to your siblings before you leave?” Lou Ellen asked plopping down cross-legged on her bed.

“I don’t know what I would say to them.” Will answered taking a seat next to her, adjusting Apollo’s bow slightly to do so. “I feel like he is favoring me by giving me his bow when it is more than obvious that any one of my other siblings would use it better than me.”

“True,” Cecil laughed now seated on the other side of Will. “You are known as the worst archer in the Apollo cabin.”

“Thanks Cecil,” Will groaned burying his face into his hands. “I guess I can defeat the Ghost King by making him laugh to death at my awful archery skills.”

“Apollo believes in you,” Lou Ellen said as she rested her hand on Will’s shoulder while avoiding the bow on his back. “And so do I. Besides, you are a healer not a fighter. Maybe that will work in your favor. All the ones before you have tried fighting the Ghost King, it might be time to try something different.”

“Like using one of those bombs Lou makes to turn people into pigs!” Cecil chimed in with a big grin on his face. “The Ghost King will never see that one coming!”

“I am pretty sure you can’t turn the Ghost King into a pig.” Will chuckled feeling some tension leaving his body. This is exactly what he needed before his entire world was turned upside down, just time with his friends as if nothing was about to happen.

“You never know until you try.” Cecil winked with a wide grin.

“And this is why I am never making one for you again.” Lou Ellen groaned as she pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. “I can’t believe you threw one at Chiron and turned him into a pig.”

“Whaaaat?” Cecil whined. “I had to top the Stoll brothers!”

“You almost got me punished with you!” Lou Ellen shouted. “I don’t know about you, but shoveling pegasi poop for months isn’t something I want to do in my free time.”

“It is kind of therapeutic in a way,” Cecil laughed. “Gave me plenty of time to think of my next big prank.”

“What is it going to be this time?” Will asked seriously worried about the safety of the campers. “It better not be something that sends the entire camp to the infirmary again.” He sighed as he remembered when Cecil’s prank of turning everyone into oompa loompas for a day turned horribly wrong sending almost the entire camp to the infirmary for nasty orange welts all over their bodies.

“If I told you it wouldn’t be a surprise!” Cecil states acting seriously wounded that they would dare ask him to reveal his secrets.  
“I better not be surprised with a full infirmary after...” Will’s voice trailed off as he remembered that he might not be there to see the next disaster his friend would create.

“Don’t worry Will,” Lou Ellen smiled softly. “You’ll be back in time to have an infirmary full of people because Cecil is known for his pranks backfiring.”

“My pranks don’t always backfire,” Cecil argued with a pout.

“Yeah right.” Lou Ellen replied with the roll of her eyes which then focused on Will. “You should really get some sleep. You can stay here since no one will be able to find my cabin right now and my siblings are off visiting their families.”

Will was about to argue that he wasn’t tired, but a small yawn escaped him. Next thing he knew he was already drifting off to sleep only to have to wake up to a nightmare turned reality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there it is. Chapter 2 :D  
> What do you think? You like it? You hate it? Well hopefully you liked it.  
> Next chapter Will and "the Ghost King", which is obviously Nico, are going to meet. I know, how annoying to read two chapters without any Solangelo, but there is plenty to come don't you worry.


	3. The Face of Death?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I lied saying this would update weekly. It is more that obvious that I can't stop myself from writing this story. But hey, it works out for you in the end. I hope you guys are ready for some Solangelo love :) because guess what? They finally meet like I promised. Hope you enjoy.

“Will,” Lou Ellen’s voice said softly from above him. “You need to get up.”

“Five more minutes.” Will groaned as he put his head under his pillow.

“I thought all children of Apollo rose with the sun.” Cecil laughed as he threw a pillow at him.

“It isn’t sunrise yet you idiot” Will stated. “I still have another 20 minutes before it is up.”

“Which is why you need to get up and finish getting ready.” Lou Ellen sighed. “The Ghost King’s castle will disappear at sunrise with you whether you are ready or not.” 

“Right,” he sighed completely forgetting once again his impending doom. With what felt like the weight of the world on his shoulders, he begrudgingly got up. The satchel Chiron had given him was seated on the floor next to the bed completely empty while the items previously inside were sorted around it.

“We added some things,” Cecil said with a Cheshire grin holding up each item as he explained what it was before putting it into the satchel. Some of the items were a strange spider looking trap gifted from the Hephaestus cabin that could supposedly trap ghosts inside, a couple of magical seeds from the Demeter cabin that could cause an entire field of various plants to grow anywhere, battle strategies with possible weaknesses of the Ghost King from the Athena cabin, a love potion that glowed an ominous neon pink from the Aphrodite cabin and of course a few things that he already recognized. “I convinced Lou to cook up some of those pig bombs. I borrowed some Greek fire from Chiron’s office.”

“You mean stole.” Will sighed shaking his head.

“Liberated,” Cecil retorted with a fake look of hurt. “I am sure he won’t mind. Besides, we all know Greek fire is handy. Maybe you’ll just burn the entire castle to the ground.”

“With me in it,” Will frowned. “Thanks, but unfortunately I am not fire proof like Leo.”

“Details,” Cecil chuckled as he finished packing the satchel with ambrosia, food, water, drachma and a various assortment of medical supplies most likely from Chiron.

“We gathered as much as we could to help you.” Lou Ellen smiled sadly. “I don’t know if the love potion from the Aphrodite cabin will help, but you might as well give it a shot. Did you need anything from the Apollo cabin?”

“No,” Will replied taking his father’s bow into his hands. “If my father’s bow can’t help me then I don’t think anything will.”

“Aren’t you going to say goodbye to at least Kayla?” Lou Ellen asked with a frown. “She is probably going to be the next head of the Apollo cabin when you leave.” At the mention of Kayla he winced slightly knowing how angry she probably was with him. While he was close to most of his siblings in the Apollo cabin, he shared a special bond with Kayla. She always knew when something was wrong even if he had his best smile on. She was always there to help back him up when he had to take charge as the head of the Apollo cabin. She always kicked him out of the infirmary when he was getting close to the point of exhaustion allowing him to relax with her in charge.

“I..” Will started then stopped as he bit his lip trying to think of some kind of excuse. He knew he should say goodbye to her, but had no idea of what to say. Should he wish her luck with being the next head of the Apollo cabin? Should he tell her that everything will be okay even though it probably wasn’t? 

“You should talk to her,” Cecil stated breaking his train of thought. “While I was going around gathering stuff for you she kept pestering me about you. Thankfully I am an escape artist and was able to get back without messing up Lou’s mist trick.”

“I don’t know what to say.” he admitted softly.

“You don’t need to say anything.” Lou Ellen suggested. “Actions always speak louder than words. Besides, I am almost positive that she will be waiting for you by the castle so there is no point in avoiding her.”

Will nodded as he looked out the window with the first signs of sunrise appearing in the horizon. Seven minutes until sunrise. Seven minutes until he entered the castle. Seven minutes until his life was about to end. Not wanting to dwell on it any longer, he quickly placed Apollo’s bow around his shoulders and picked up the satchel.

“Thanks,” he said as he pulled his two best friends into a hug. “You guys are the best friends anyone could ever ask for.”

“Did you want us to come with you?” Lou Ellen asked as she tightened her hug.

“You both should rest,” Will replied with a small smile as he pulled out of the hug. “Doctor’s orders.”

“You can do this Will,” Cecil said with a smile giving him a light punch in the arm. “Everyone is rooting for you.”

“Just trust your instincts,” Lou Ellen said pulling him into another hug before giving him a soft kiss on the check. “Good luck.”

The trio didn’t say anything further as Will left the Hecate cabin to head to the castle concealed within the forest. He didn’t look back afraid of seeing his friends cry or to look at what he was going to lose. Instead he marched across the field towards the mist shrouded forest attempting to calm his nerves before he had to face the Ghost King. As he approached the edge of the forest, a familiar figure stood at its edge blocking his path, Kayla.

“Hey Kayla,” Will smiled as if nothing bad was about to happen and was just meeting her for lunch. There was a loud smack followed by a stinging pain in his left check alerting him that she just slapped him.

“I guess I deserve that.” he chuckled softly as he rubbed his check looking down at his sister. She still had her arm up from slapping him, but her head was down with closed eyes and silent tears streaming down her face.

“I can’t believe you weren’t going to say goodbye!” Kayla shouted dropping her arm to her side and clenching her fists with her eyes still closed. “I...” she started to say, but the anger was gone replaced by sadness as she started to sob.

Will’s heart broke as he watched his sister cry. Unsure as to what to say, he instead chose to pull her into a tight hug allowing her to cry into his chest.

“Why did it have to be you?” she sobbed.

“It had to be someone.” he said flatly.

“But why you?” Kayla asked again. “Why not someone from the Ares cabin? They would have loved to be able to die in the mist of battle.”

“Could you really ask another to take my place?” Will scolded her with a frown as he pushed her back a bit to look into her eyes. When she didn’t respond he simply placed a soft kiss on her forehead before breaking the hug completely. “I have to go. We both know the sun is about to rise.”

“Goodbye Will,” he heard Kayla sniffle as he stepped into the forest.

*****

Will blinked trying to get his eyes to adjust to the darkness of the Ghost King’s castle. The green fire that burned in the candles and torches provided some light, but seemed to be fighting a losing battle against an unseen darkness. He didn’t even remember seeing the castle as he entered the forest just suddenly appearing within the foyer as if summoned by the Ghost King himself and yet there was no one there. Not wanting to be unprepared, he quickly pulled his father’s bow off his back pulling the string back gently forming an arrow of light. Even the light that was produced by Apollo’s bow and arrow seemed to be dimmed by the darkness of the castle. With his bow ready, he cautiously took a step forward. The sound of his footsteps seemed to echo throughout the supposedly empty castle, but again nothing.

Without lowing the bow, Will looked around noticing the architecture of the castle represented everything from ancient Greek to modern day. Their were Greek scenes carved into the crown molding of the ceiling, painted on the walls as well as in the form mosaics on the floor. It surprised him that while this castle had been around for thousands of years with only one person know to inhabit it, everything was well kept and clean. There were no signs of spider webs anywhere, no signs of wear or tear, no signs of any kind of battle ever taking place which struck him as extremely odd.

“Apollo’s bow,” a voice said seeming to come from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. “An interesting weapon choice for someone coming to my castle unsure of wanting to fight.”

“My bow is drawn,” Will replied pulling the string back to ready position as his eyes darted around the room trying to find the source of the voice. “How do you know I am not ready to fight now?”

“I can sense it,” the voice replied with a soft laugh. “Your soul is not one of a fighter.”

“Care to show yourself and find out?” he asked surprised at his own courage. The darkness of the castle seemed to gather in front of him as a figure slowly started to form. He was about ready to release an arrow when a boy emerged from the darkness. The boy standing before him was at least a head shorter than him, with messy dark hair, pale skin and soft amber eyes that were not one of monster, but human. Instinctively, he lowered the bow from the unarmed boy before him.

“Why did you lower your bow?” the boy asked with a frown of confusion. “Did you not come here to slay the Ghost King?”

“You’re the Ghost King?” Will asked tilting his head to the side in confusion. Surely this boy couldn’t be the Ghost King that even the gods feared.

“It is what I have been called over the years.” the boy answered with a shrug.

“But your like my age.” Will stated in shock.

“I don’t know if I have an age.” The Ghost King replied with an irritated tone. “Time doesn’t exist in this realm.”

“Well you look good for your age,” he said not being able to help laughing at the confused look on the Ghost King’s face completely forgetting any fear he had when he entered the castle.

“Are you sure it is safe to laugh?” the boy asked as the darkness seemed to grow. “I am still the Ghost King that eats the souls of those who come here.”

“So why aren’t you?” he asked before he could stop himself.

“You have yet to awaken the monster.” the Ghost King frowned with a dark expression.

“Monster?” Will asked not remembering any part of the story that mentioned a monster other than the Ghost King himself. “If there is a monster that imprisons you here, then maybe we can work together to defeat it.”

“I am the monster.” the boy said as if stating the obvious.

“You don’t look like one.” Will supplied with a smile.

“Don’t be fooled,” The Ghost King warned. “I am a monster without a soul which is why I must eat the souls of others.”

“Can’t you eat something else?” he asked even though he knew the answer to the question.

“You say that like the curse that was place upon me gave me a choice.” the boy chuckled darkly.

“So you are cursed.” Will stated thinking back to the story of the Ghost King of how it had said the gods had curse a demigod because they were too powerful, but that didn’t seem right. Apollo and Chiron had mentioned that the gods couldn’t do anything about the Ghost King’s castle. So if the gods didn’t curse the boy, who did?

“Obviously,” the Ghost King scoffed.

“Do you know how to break it?” Will asked wondering if the Ghost King could fill in the obvious gaps in the story he knew.

“If I did do you think I would still be here?” the boy frowned with crossed arms.

“Good point.” Will chuckled inwardly slapping himself for being an idiot. Of course the Ghost King wouldn‘t know how the break the curse. “So why didn’t you attack me?”

“I didn’t want to.” the boy answered, a sad expression briefly appearing.

“But you attacked all the others that came before me?” Will asked confused.

“They attacked first.” the Ghost King replied sadly.

“No one has ever talked to you?” Will questioned surprised that he already knew the answer and wasn’t going to like it.

“No,” the boy said sadly looking away. “They could sense the monster inside of me.” Will could feel his heart start to break as he looked down at the boy before him. It was obvious that he didn’t want to hurt anyone, yet the curse made him do it anyways no matter how hard the Ghost King tried to fight it. He instinctively went to pull the boy into a hug, but the boy darted away from him as if he was some kind of monster.

“You shouldn’t touch me.” the Ghost King growled with narrowed eyes.

“Why?” Will asked. “Hugs are good when you are upset.”

“It is dangerous.”

“Dangerous how?”

“You’ll awaken the monster.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I-I have to go,” the Ghost King stuttered nervously. “It is too dangerous for me to be around you. My servants will attend to you.” Before Will could ask anything further, the boy melted away into the shadows and a skeleton appeared next to him causing him to jump.

“Shall I show you to your room?” the skeleton asked politely.

“W-What?” Will stuttered still trying to calm himself down after the skeleton randomly appearing had startled him. 

“You are a guest here.” the skeleton replied with a small bow. “If there is anything you need, I am here to serve you.”

“Are those brought here always treated as guests?”

“No,” the skeleton answered. “You are the first.”

“Because I didn’t attack him?”

“Yes,” the skeleton simply stated. “Shall I show you to your room or is there something else I can assist you with?”

“I guess you can show me to my room.”

“As you wish.” the skeleton said before turning towards the the stairs that led up to the second floor. “Follow me.”

Will followed silently behind the skeleton as he took in all the different pictures that ran along the ceilings, walls and floors of the castle. Every Greek and Roman story was represented among the pictures, even ones that were only known to those of Camp Half-blood. It now made sense why the castle was so clean considering that one of the Ghost King’s servants was walking in front of him. The skeleton came to a stop to open the door to a room gesturing for him to enter.

“This shall be your room for the duration of your stay.” the skeleton announced. “Is there anything else I could assist you with?”

“No,” Will answered as he peered into the room. “Thank you.” The room was larger than the entire Apollo cabin and then some. It had a large four post bed in the middle of the left wall with an Armoire in the corner and a night stand next to the bed all made of a some kind of dark wood that looked black with a purplish tinge to it. The walls were just a basic dark grey stone without any pictures on it unlike the elaborately decorated hallways. There was a large window that took up the entire wall furthest from him covered with black curtains to block out whatever was outside. The right wall had a door leading into what looked like a bathroom given the black tiles that lined the floor from underneath the door.

“If you shall need anything,” the skeleton explained. “Please just ask for it and we shall appear to assist you. And what ever you do, please do not enter the west wing.”

“What is in the west wing?” Will asked curiously.

“Our master’s chambers.” the skeleton replied before bowing and disappearing.

Will frowned at the spot where the skeleton disappeared wondering why it would tell him about the west wing. It wasn’t like he the Ghost King would let him go there anyways even if he did stumble upon it. He contemplated on wandering the castle, but realized just how tired he actually was. He hadn’t gotten a good nights sleep the day before because of the nightmares and then he slept only a few hours in the Hecate cabin. He didn’t think the Ghost King would attack him in his sleep so he gently set his father’s bow on the nightstand next to the bed within reach in case he did need it. He then took off the satchel setting next to the bow before climbing into the amazingly soft bed. It only took seconds for him to fall into a deep sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the black wood that everything is made of is African Blackwood. Look it up, it is gorgeous and is perfect to be in the castle. Well, let me know what you think. You know the routine, leave a comment, bookmark, kudos or whatever tickles your fancy. Until next time. XD


	4. Looking for Answers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this story is updating faster than I thought it would. It helps that it is my days off of work and I have unfortunately been having to take my sister places only to wait a couple of hours for whatever she has going on to finish. Today will be the dmv...ugh... I hate that place. All I can think of now is how true Zootopia is with all of them being sloths. Well enough about me, I hope you enjoy the next chapter.

The Ghost King blinked as he looked around one of the many guest rooms that were in the castle. He hadn’t remembered coming here meaning that the monster was already starting to take over leaving blank gaps in his memory. On the bed was the chosen hero sent to defeat him fast asleep unaware of the danger was present. He found it odd that the son of Apollo could sleep knowing that he was in the same castle as a monster that would eventually eat his soul. Then again, the boy was different from all the others that preceded him. Normally when he appeared from the shadows they would attack. Sure, some would hesitate at first, but in the end they would just attack without trying to talk to him. He hadn’t known he was cursed until the fifth hero came to try to defeat him calling him the Ghost King, a name that stuck considering he didn’t remember anything from before the castle, not even his name.

The boy stirred slightly causing panic to bubble inside him afraid of what to say if the boy woke up to find him just staring. However, the son of Apollo simply shivered as if sensing the coldness brought by his presence. Immediately, he went to the chest that rested at the base of the bed and removed one of the extra blankets it contained. There was no way he was going to be able to use the blankets that were on the bed since it would require moving the boy and possibly waking him. As gently has he could, he covered the boy with the blankets noticing him instantly relax back into a deep sleep with a sigh. All he could think about at that very moment was how beautiful the boy was with his sun tanned skin peppered with freckles, curly golden hair and deep blue eyes underneath those closed eyelids.

The Ghost King shook his head in frustration knowing it was wrong to like another boy. It was the only thing that he vaguely remembered of his past life and hated that only boys were brought to the castle. Of course none of that mattered because all of them attacked him, but now everything was much more complicated. This boy sound asleep in front of him didn’t want to fight or think of him as a monster. This boy was the only one that had ever truly spoken to him and was the only one he was able to actually look at alive and breathing. He so badly wanted to touch the son of Apollo, but knew it would only awaken the monster inside of him which would end the boy’s life. He knew he had to stay away, but just like a moth drawn to the light so was he drawn to the boy. Whether it be the monster slowly taking over or the loneliness in his heart, he was drawn to the boy.

The boy stirred again with another shiver even with the blanket. With a sigh, he went back to the chest to remove two more blankets to place on top of the shivering boy. He knew his castle was cold, but didn’t realize it was that cold. Maybe it was because no sun reached his castle, or no light for that matter and that was why the son of Apollo was cold, but he couldn’t be certain. Once the extra blankets were place on top of the boy, he looked around the room for some kind of fireplace to help warm the room, but there wasn’t one. He closed his eyes focusing on a fireplace appearing on the right side of the bed where there was not furniture and within moments one flickered into reality in the wall, fire already blazing. There wasn’t much he could do to help the boy with the current situation, but at least he could make him comfortable. Thankfully the castle seemed to change to his different needs throughout his time and he learned to master it with there being little else to entertain him.

The Ghost King looked down at his hands as they flicked between being transparent and solid a few times before they seemed to decide solid was better. That was never a good sign. Maybe the fireplace hadn’t been such a great idea, not like it mattered since he had already summoned it. He remembered when he tried to stay away from the chosen hero and possibly just fade into nothingness, but it only angered the monster inside him resulting in the hero’s gruesome and painful death. It was after that he chose to face them as they came and allow them to die as quickly and painlessly as possible. Yet again the son of Apollo seemed to throw everything he knew out the window and instead of killing the boy, he welcomed him as a guest. He brought his hands to his face with a frustrated groan. This boy was going to be the end of him. Whether the boy would be the one to finally defeat him or to be the one to finally break him to the point where the monster reigned supreme forever it didn’t matter. One way or another this boy was going to be his downfall. He only hoped the boy would defeat him and end both their nightmares. Despite knowing he should leave, he couldn’t move from the spot he stood. So he chose to just stand there and watched the boy sleep until the boy slolwly waking scared him back into the shadows.

*****

Will let out a yawn as he stretched feeling more rested than he had ever felt since arriving at Camp Half-blood. He looked around the guest room noticing the fire place with a fire burning inside trying to remember if that was there earlier. It wasn’t until he went to get out of the bed that he noticed the three blankets that were piled on top of him that were clearly not there when he fell asleep. His eyes scanned the room, but there was no sign of the Ghost King or his servants. Worry started to settle in when he realized someone was in the room while he was asleep and quickly looked for his father’s bow. It was still sitting there next to his satchel exactly where he left it. A sigh escaped his lips as he put his hand over his chest in an attempt to calm his racing heart. He was still alive which was becoming more and more confusing as to why. He had come here expecting to die fighting, yet the boy that was supposedly the Ghost King wasn’t the monster everyone claimed he was. The Ghost King was just another victim to the curse of the castle. He really hoped the way to break the curse didn’t end with the boy’s death, but he had no other idea of what the solution was. It wasn’t like he could ask his friends or father for advice.

His eyes widened as he remembered the list of battle strategies as well as various other helpful facts about the Ghost King that the Athena cabin had given him and found himself rummaging through his satchel to find it. He skipped over all the battle strategies quickly before he finally found the information he was looking for. It seemed that the Athena cabin had really done their research because it had various tellings of the Ghost King’s story as well as speculations as to who the boy’s godly parent could be.

“Thank you Athena cabin,” Will said with a smile. Maybe the different stories would help piece together what the curse really was and possibly a way to break it. After reading through the facts provided from the Athena cabin a couple times he had come to the conclusion that the Ghost King was probably either a child of Hades or Thanatos considering the fact he had skeleton servants and could keep the souls of the chosen from the Underworld. Another thing he concluded was that the gods weren’t the ones that put the curse on the boy since it seemed the Athena cabin had consulted their mother on the matter. He could even rule out any of the titans since it seemed Athena said the gods and titans once tried to destroy the castle together since it threatened both worlds, of course that didn’t work. That left nothing for him to go on in order to discover what the curse was and how to break it. There had to be something he was missing, but without any help he wasn’t going to be able to figure it out. With a groan he flopped himself onto the bed and just stared at the ceiling as if it held the secret answer. 

“The ceiling!” Will shouted in excitement remembering the thousands of paintings, carvings and mosaics that covered the castle. If he was going to find the answer to the curse where better to find it than in the castle itself. He quickly grabbed his father’s bow not wanting to leave it unattended and darted from the room to the hallway. His excitement left him when he realized just how many paintings, carvings and mosaics there were for him to go through, but he had to start somewhere. The question was where?

“Umm..Hello?” he called out hoping that was enough for one of the skeleton servants to appear. Thankfully it was enough because a skeleton appeared in front of him and bowed.

“How may I assist you?” the skeleton asked.

“Could you help me find the stories around the castle that pertain to a child of Hades or Thanatos?” Will asked wondering if the skeleton even knew what he was talking about.

“There aren’t too many,” the skeleton answered. “But I am afraid I can’t show all of them to you.”

“Why not?” he frowned in annoyance.

“The most recent paintings are in the west wing.” the skeleton replied, but that made him grin. If the most recent stories of a child of Hades or Thanatos were in the west wing that meant he was on the right track. It couldn’t be a coincidence that they were closest to where the Ghost King’s bedroom was and contained information about a child of Hades or Thanatos. However that left the question as to why the stories were more recent when the castle had been around for thousands of years.

“If I can’t go there,” Will pushed. “Can you at least tell me what they are about? Was there a child of Hades or Thanatos in those stories?”

“Yes,” the skeleton nodded. “A child of Hades that has been forgotten.”

“Forgotten?” he asked. “What do you mean forgotten? You said that those stories were recent. The only child of Hades I know is Hazel and she is not forgotten. Are you talking about Bianca? She died during a quest, but I still remember her and when she arrived at Camp Half-Blood for the first time. My father brought her there. It wasn’t until after her death that we learned she was a child of Hades. Is that why?”

“No,” the skeleton replied. “There was another, but as I have said they were forgotten.”

“Do you remember the child of Hades?” Will hopefully asked. He watched the skeleton twitch slightly as if trying to remember as its bones rattled.

“No,” the skeleton finally answered. “The paintings are too destroyed to read the rest.”

“Destroyed?” he blinked in confusion as he looked around at the perfectly preserved hallway. “But this castle is so well maintained. How can those ones be destroyed?”

“Master becomes angry and destroys things sometimes.” the skeleton stated as if it was a common occurrence. “Most of the west wing is in disrepair, but he doesn’t like when anyone enters.”

“But those paintings contain the story of the forgotten child of Hades.” Will sighed as his bit his bottom lip in thought. He didn’t know if he should risk the wrath of his host in order to look at the paintings himself, but if he didn’t figure out the solution to the curse then he would be stuck in the castle forever.

“You are not allowed in the west wing.” the skeleton ordered as if sensing he was going to go without permission. “If you try to go there we will stop you.”

“I won’t,” Will lied with a smile. “Thank you for answering my questions.”

“Is there anything else I could assist you with?” the skeleton asked. He was about to say no when his stomach grumbled loudly.

“Maybe some food?” he asked with a soft chuckle.

“What would you like?” the skeleton asked.

“Some sandwiches please?” he requested not sure what they had in terms of food.

“Of course." the skeleton replied. “Anything else?”

“Orange juice please?” he asked. “and some water.”

“Anything else?” the skeleton asked again.

“No I am good,” Will smiled. “Thank you.”

“Very well,” the skeleton replied with a bow. “Your food and drink shall be ready shortly. I will bring it to your room when it is ready. Please remain there for the time being.” With that being said the skeleton disappeared.

Will contemplated going to the west wing again, but decided he would have to go there another time when the skeleton servants didn’t think he was interested anymore. Of course he could just ask the Ghost King if the boy ever did chose to show up again. He was happy regardless because he was able to discover that the Ghost King was actually a son of Hades that had been forgotten. He was one step closer to figuring out how to break the curse once and for all hopefully helping the son of Hades in the end. He really wished he could talk to Hazel to see if she knew anything, but again he was alone and had to figure it out on his own.  
Will opened the door to his room to find enough sandwiches on a newly appeared table to feed Camp Half-Blood with a pitcher of orange juice and a pitcher of water next to them. He then looked at the fire still burning in the fireplace, then back at the sandwiches. The gods had said they weren’t able to do anything to the castle or even get inside, but he wondered if he could still send out a prayer and a food offering to Hades for help. It was worth giving it a shot even if it didn’t work, but if it did then maybe Hades himself would remember his son that everyone else had forgotten. He grabbed a couple of sandwiches from the table and tossed them into the fire with a silent prayer to the god of the Underworld before he went back to the table to eat.

Will sat there in silence as he ate going over all the new information in his head when a soft knock on the door shook him from his thoughts. At first he thought he had imagined it, but when the soft knock came again he frowned in confusion. 

“Come in?” Will said as he watched the door open to reveal the Ghost King standing there.

“My servants have informed me that you are thinking of going to the west wing.” the boy said with a frown. “I must warn you it would be extremely dangerous to go there. It would be unwise to anger me.”

“But the way to break the curse might be in the paintings.” Will replied as he stood up and closing the distance between them in the matter of seconds.

“Why would you think that?” the Ghost King asked a bit hopefully.

“Your servant said that it told the story of a child of Hades that had been forgotten.” he answered enthusiastically. “It would make sense if you were a son of Hades you know with skeleton servants and all. Plus if you were forgotten, maybe remembering will help break the curse!” He watched various emotions find there way across the boy’s face until it settled back into a frown.

“I am afraid those paintings will not help you.” the boy finally replied sadly. “I fear I have destroyed them beyond repair and what my servant told you is probably the only information that they can offer.”

“Can I at least look at them?” Will pleaded. 

“No,” the Ghost King said. “But I will have my servants look into repairing them. If they can repair them then you can look at them.”

“If they can’t?” he asked hoping he could still look at them.

“Then I have destroyed my only chance of breaking this curse.” the boy stated as tears started to form in his eyes. He went to reach out to comfort the boy, but just as before the boy flinched away from him disappearing into the darkness once again. He just stared at the spot where the boy stood only moments before wanting more than anything to comfort him and tell him everything would be okay. A sigh escaped him as he slammed the door shut in frustration. He was never going to find out how to break the curse if the boy kept running away from him. He needed to relax and calm down. His eyes found the door to the bathroom as a small smile formed. Nothing better to help you relax than a nice bath. He opened the door to the bathroom and couldn’t help but whistle in amazement. For a castle that was thousands of years old, it didn’t lack modern technology in the bathroom other than the torches that helped light it. There was a shower in one corner, a sink with a giant mirror in another next to a cabinet without doors that contained soaps, shampoos and towels. In another corner was a modern day toilet, but the most impressive was the large bathtub in the last corner.

Will made his way to the bathtub and turned the faucet allowing warm water to to flow as he closed the drain while adding some soap that was within reach. When the bathtub was finally full, he stripped of his clothing and settled into the bathtub with a content sigh. His eyes slipped closed as he went over the information about the Ghost King he had learned. Without warning, he fell into a deep sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like how Nico is just a creeper watching Will sleep. Not that I could blame him since there is probably nothing better to do in the castle anyways, but it is still funny nonetheless.
> 
> I am kind of excited for the next chapter, but I can't tell you why since it will spoil it. XD
> 
> I hope you enjoyed. Until next time!


	5. A Name

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay you lucky ducks, you get two chapters in one day. You can thank my sister for that after sitting at the dmv for you know, hours. However, I do go back to work tomorrow so updates might slow down a bit until I get another day off. Hope you enjoy.

_Will looked around a castle that wasn’t the Ghost King’s in confusion. This one resembled an ancient Greek temple more than a castle with a colonnade of fluted, baseless columns with square capital stands on a three stepped base supporting an entablature. Instead of the usual white marble used in ancient Greek architecture, the marble was a dark black making him wonder where he was._

_“I received your message.” a voice said causing him to turn around and face none other than the King of the Underworld himself._

_“It actually worked!” Will shouted unable to contain his excitement despite obviously being in the Underworld._

_“Yes,” Hades answered looking bored. “It would seem you are able to send messages from the castle, but it is much more difficult to respond to you. Hypnos had some trouble locating you, but it would seem that dreams can travel to the realm the castle resides in.”_

_“So some gods can enter the castle.” Will said with a thoughtful expression._

_“Only if the one chosen is still alive it would seem.” Hades responded. “So why did you call upon me and not your father, son of Apollo?”_

_“I have reason to believe the Ghost King is your son.” Will explained as he tried to read the blank mask of Hades. “There is this painting that talks about a child of Hades that had been forgotten. Do you know anything about that?”_

_“For a son of Apollo,” Hades said with a small smile that quickly vanished. “you are unusually bright.”_

_“Uh,” Will frowned in confusion. “Was that supposed to be a pun?” The King of the Underworld didn’t seem to find any humor in the question and simply continued._

_“You would be correct,” Hades answered. “The one they call the Ghost King is indeed my son that has been forgotten.”_

_“Great!” Will shouted in excitement. “Then you would know how to break the curse.”_

_“Unfortunately,” Hades sighed. “I do not.”_

_“Wait,” Will frowned as he tapped his chin in thought. “If you knew this entire time that the Ghost King was one of your children. Why didn’t you tell anyone?”_

_“Do you really think they would allow any of my children to live if they found out?” Hades countered, a brief expression of anger flashed across his face before returning to his neutral mask. It was true, if the gods, especially Zeus or Apollo, had discovered this curse was caused by a child of Hades he doubted Hazel would be around._   
_“So if you don’t know how to break the curse,” he sighed feeling like he just ran into a dead end. “What am I supposed to do? I would prefer not to kill him.”_

_“He can not be killed,” Hades stated as he looked off into the distance. “for he technically doesn’t exist which is why all the others have failed. I must ask, why hasn’t he stolen your soul yet?” The King of the Underworld’s eyes turned back to him seeming to see right into his soul._

_“Uh,” Will chuckled nervously scratching the side of his check. “I kind of refused to fight him and ended up just talking to him. ”_

_“You didn’t fight him even though Apollo gave you his bow?” Hades asked with a raised eyebrow._

_“Yeah,” he sighed as he looked at the floor. “It’s just I’m a healer, not a fighter and his eyes were filled with so much sadness. I just couldn’t bring myself to even attempt to kill him. Then we started talking and he said I was the first one that even tried talking to him. My heart just broke at that. He had been alone for so long, suffering so much because of this curse. How could I not try to help him? It’s what I do. It’s the only thing I am good at.” He wiped away the tears that he didn’t know he had started crying until one it the floor._

_“It seems you might be the one that can finally break the curse.” Hades said gently resting a hand on Will’s shoulder. “While I don’t know how to break it, I have faith that you will find the answers.”_

_“Is there any other information that you could give me about your son the Ghost King?” Will asked hoping that at least some new information might lead him back on the right path._

_“Do you not know his name?” Hades asked with a frown._

_“We haven’t really been able to have a formal introduction.” he laughed as he remembered the two encounters he had with the boy. Both times the boy had run away from him leaving their conversations short._

_“His name is...” Before Hades could answer there was a blinding light and the dream faded._

 

*****

“Son of Apollo,” a voice shouted in worry somewhere above him. “Son of Apollo, can you hear me?”

Will was about to respond when he turn to his side to cough up water. He groaned in pain as his lungs readjusted to taking in air. He felt as cold hand rubbing his back trying to get him to relax.

“You fell asleep in the bathtub,” the Ghost King’s voice supplied. “Where you trying to kill yourself?”

“No,” he responded hoarsely, taking a deep breath feeling like his lungs were on fire. “I was talking to your father.”

“My father?” the boy repeated. The cold hand on his back stopped and just remained in one spot.

“Yeah,” Will croaked before he was thrown into a coughing fit. The cold hand resumed moving up and down his back.

“Don’t talk,” the boy said softly. “Just focus on breathing.” Will couldn’t help but smile that the Ghost King was giving him medical advise. After a couple of moments of deep breaths, the pain was gone, the hand on his back was soothing and despite having just woken up he was exhausted again.

“Son of Apollo,” the Ghost King said softly. “Are you okay?”

“Why do you keep calling me son of Apollo?”

“I..” the boy started to respond only to pause. “I don’t know your name.”

“Will,” he answered with a smile as he slowly sat up to look into the boy’s soft amber eyes, their faces almost touching. “It’s Will.”

“Will.” the Ghost King repeated.

“What is your name?” Will asked glad the boy hadn’t run away from him yet.

“I don’t remember.” the boy said as he looked away ashamed. It was then that the Ghost King finally seemed to realize their close proximity and jump away rubbing his right hand that Will noticed was now transparent.

“You’re hand,” he said as he stood up and moved over to the boy, healer instinct taking over. “Let me see it.”

The Ghost King just stared at him for a moment before a blush erupted across the boy’s pale face quickly looking away. Will watched the boy dart over to where the towels were and quickly tossing one over to him. It was then that he realized his own nudity, instantly wrapping the towel around his waist. He could feel a blush of his own start to rage across his face as he looked at the ground in embarrassment.

“Sorry,” Will apologized with a soft chuckle. “Can I still look at your hand? Apollo’s gift to me is being able to heal, maybe I can do something about it.”

The Ghost King narrowed his eyes as if fighting some kind of war within his head, the blush while faded still ran across the boy’s face. It was obvious that the boy was getting ready to flee again as he stepped closer to the shadow behind him.

“Please,” Will begged take a few cautious steps closer as if approaching a wounded animal. “I just want to help.”

“You could awaken the monster.” the boy replied softly as he turned away biting his lower lip.

“I have yet to see one,” Will said with a soft smile still slowly inching closer until he was a little closer than arms length away. He offered his hand and waited patiently. The boy looked down at the offered hand, then back at Will’s face before he shakingly offered his transparent hand. Will smiled as he took the boy’s hand between his own not noticing the blush returning across the boy’s face. While the hand was completely transparent it seemed only the fingers had ghost like qualities to them.

“How long has this been happening?” Will asked instantly going into doctor mode.

“Ever since I can remember.” the boy answered softly.

“Are parts of you always fading?” Will inquired as he poke his fingers through the boy’s causing the boy to hiss in pain. “That hurts?”

“I don’t start to fade until the chosen hero arrives.” the Ghost King answered sadly. “And yes, it does hurt.” Will simply hummed to himself as he worked his way slowly up to the boy’s palm watching his face, but there was no sign of pain.

“What about now?” Will asked. “Does it hurt?”

“No,” the boy answered. “Just feels funny. Like when your leg falls asleep.”

“Interesting,” Will murmured to himself. “You said that you only start to fade when the chosen hero arrives. Do you know why?”

“Because the monster is hungry.” the Ghost King replied only to wince in pain and draw his hands to his head.

“What is wrong?” Will asked with wide eyes as he went to take the boy’s hand again.

“Stop!” the boy shouted before Will touched him. “Please don’t touch me.” the boy’s voice was soft and full of pain.

“I’m a healer,” Will said reaching out to touch the boy once again, but stopped when he saw him flinch away. “Please tell me what is wrong.”

“The monster...” the boy whimpered in pain clutching his head tighter. For a brief moment Will could have sworn that the Ghost King flickered out of existence, but it didn’t happen again so he brushed it aside.

“You can fight it,” Will encouraged with a soft smile. “You have so far. I believe in you.”

“No,” the Ghost King whimpered. “The longer I go without eating your soul the more powerful it becomes.” A silent scream escaped the boy’s lips. “I have to go before it awakens.” Yet again, Will watched as the boy disappeared into the shadows, his hand still outstretched towards where they boy was moments before. He let out a frustrated sigh as his arm dropped to his side. He didn’t know the boy’s name because his conversation with Hades was interrupted on the ironic account of him almost dying. He wasn’t any closer as to figuring out how to break the curse and to make matters worse it seemed like the boy was starting to lose the battle with the monster inside of him.

A flash of light caused him to squint his eyes and bring his hand up to guard his face. Apollo’s bow, which he had forgotten he had placed next to the bathtub before he fell asleep, seemed to be glowing a bit brighter than it normally did which caused rainbows to appears all over the bathroom.

“Rainbows!” Will squealed in delight. “I can do an Iris message!” He sprinted back into the room to grab his satchel and scrummage around look for the drachma that Chiron had given him. When he finally found them he threw one into the nearest rainbow in the bathroom.

“Hazel Levesque please,” Will asked the rainbow crossing his fingers that it would actually work. It took a little longer than normal, but the eventually a somewhat fuzzy image of Hazel appeared.

“Will?” the girl asked as she rubbed her eyes and blinked. “Is that really you?”

“Yeah it is,” Will chuckled nervously.

“Where have you been for over a month?” Hazel asked with a frown. “Camp Half-Blood thinks your dead!”

“A month?” Will replied this time it was his turn to frown. “I have only been here maybe a day or two.”

“Well wherever you are time must run differently.” Hazel stated as she crossed her arms over her chest. “No offense, but why are you calling me instead of Chiron or your siblings?”

“Because you’re a daughter of Hades.” Will simply stated.

“Yeah,” Hazel laughed. “I know. Please don’t tell me you are dead and are somehow calling me from my father’s castle in the Underworld.”

“Nope,” Will laughed. “But I was just there not that long ago talking to him.”

“Umm,” Hazel frowned with a raised eyebrow. “What?”

“Look,” Will sighed. “It’s a long story and while I would love to tell it to you I am afraid I don’t have much time. I need to ask you something.”

“Okay,” Hazel said with a worried nod.

“Do you know about the child of Hades that has been forgotten?” Will asked. He watched as Hazel’s eyes began to fill with tears.

“Why are you asking about Nico?” she said as the tears started to stream down her face.

“Nico?” Will asked trying to place the name. It sounded so familiar, yet every time he seemed to be getting close to figuring out why, it would disappear as if his mind was literally playing keep away with his memories. He looked up to see Hazel giving him a sad look that he couldn’t quite understand.

“Nico was his name,” Hazel sobbed. “But he faded away when Camp Half-Blood was helping Apollo become a god again. He saved the camp by sacrificing himself and no one even remembers. Father says when someone fades away it is as if they never existed.”

“What do you mean by fades away?” Will asked. “Like dying?”

“No,” Hazel whispered through her crying. “It is worse than dying. You push your body so far past its limits that your powers literally consume you and erase you from the world.”

“So if he was supposed to be erased from the world,” Will continued. “Why do you and Hades remember him?”

“Because,” Hazel said with a sad smile. “The Underworld never forgets a life that was meant to enter Elysian Fields, even if it has faded.”

“I’m sorry Hazel,” Will apologized wishing he could hug the girl through the Iris message. “I didn’t know this would upset you so much.”

“It’s okay,” Hazel sniffled as she wiped some tears away. “It is just nice to finally be able to talk about him with someone. He saved me you know, brought me back from the dead when the doors of death were open. Father just ignored it even after the doors of death were closed and let me stay in the world of the living. Nico almost faded bringing the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half-Blood, it wasn’t just Reyna, Coach Hedge and a group of pegasi that did it. He was so lost for so long thinking that no one wanted a child of Hades to be around him, but after the war with Gaea things started to change for him. Then he met...” her voice trailed off as she looked away.

“Met?” Will probed wanting to know more about this Nico that obviously shouldn’t have been forgotten.

“He met someone that changed his life forever.” Hazel finally finished still not meeting Will’s eyes. “They were so happy together. I finally thought that after all Nico had been through he could finally be happy, but of course children of Hades rarely have happy endings.”

“Do you know who that person is?” Will asked hopefully. “Maybe if I talk to them they will remember Nico and bring him back.” Again, Hazel looked at him with such a sad look, but again he couldn’t place where that sadness was directed.

“I do,” Hazel whispered. “But if they can’t remember now, then they might never remember.”

“I don’t understand.” Will replied.

“It’s okay Will,” Hazel sniffled wiping the remaining tears away. “Why did you bring up Nico anyways?”

“Have you ever heard the story of the Ghost King?” Will asked wondering if they had that story at Camp Jupiter.

“No,” Hazel admitted. “But that was one of Nico’s nicknames.”

“It was?” Will asked then shook his head trying to stay on topic. “I guess since it only happens at Camp Half-Blood you wouldn’t know the story. Anyways, every hundred years the Ghost King’s castle appears on the Winter Solstice and selects a hero to enter then disappears for another hundred years. Long story short, it came this year, I was selected and that is where I am right now.”

“Wait,” Hazel said taking a deep breath as if trying to calm herself. “Are you telling me that you think this Ghost King that rules the castle you are in is actually my brother Nico?”

“After hearing your story,” Will sighed. “I think it is safe to say yes, I think he is the one in the castle with me right now. The only thing I don’t understand is that the Ghost King’s castle has been around since the beginning of Camp Half-Blood and if Nico faded not even a year ago then how is it possible?”

“Screw logic!” Hazel shouted. “Are you seriously telling me that Nico hasn’t faded?”

“Umm,” Will replied as he scratched his cheek. “I guess so, but it is a bit more complicated than that. He doesn’t remember anything about before he was stuck in the castle and it seems he is forced to eat the soul of the chosen hero by some monster he claims is inside him.”

“But he hasn’t eaten your soul yet?” Hazel asked with an odd smile.

“No,” Will sighed. “But he I think he needs to eat the soul of the chosen hero in order to keep from fading. His right hand is already starting to fade and then he ran away saying the monster was awakening.”

“Will,” Hazel said so softly it was almost a whisper. “I wish I could help you more and I know I have not right to ask, but please save my brother. He has already suffered so much, he doesn’t deserve to remain like this. And if anyone can save him, it is you.”

“Why is that?” Will asked as he tilted his head to the side in confusion.

“Because of who you are Will,” Hazel smiled like she knew something he didn’t. “You’re a healer that can heal even the scars that are unseen. It is what you do best.”

“Thanks Hazel,” Will blushed. “But I’m not that great.”

“You are,” Hazel laughed softly. “You just don’t remember yet. You should go. If what you are saying is true and he is truly starting to fade you don’t have much time.”

“Any suggestions on how to stop that other than giving up my soul?” Will asked with a sigh.

“I don’t,” Hazel replied with another odd smile. “But I am sure you will figure it out. Call me if anything else happens. And Will, both of you better return safely.”

The image of Hazel disappeared with all the rainbows in the bathroom as Apollo’s bow returned back to its normal glow. He couldn’t help but feel that Hazel was purposely leaving something important out of their conversation and it didn’t help that she kept giving him looks that he couldn’t understand. It didn’t matter though, because now he knew exactly what the curse was. It was Nico trying to save himself from fading. Only one question remained, how was Will supposed to break it without ending one of their lives?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, a lot happens in this chapter where Will finds out a good deal of information about the Ghost King. Of course the bathroom scene I couldn't help but put in which is why Will just so happens to fall asleep in the bathroom. 
> 
> Even though Will knows a good deal of what is going on, doesn't mean it isn't going to get any easier because he is obviously still clueless about the most important part. Meh, it happens. Hope you enjoyed it. 
> 
> And like I said, updates might slow a little since I am going to work tomorrow. ;)


	6. Fear

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So as I said, work has slowed down the updates, but alas here is the next one. I hope you enjoy.

The Ghost King appeared in his room throwing the nearest piece of furniture smashing it to a million pieces against the wall. He ripped down the already torn tapestries from the ceiling completely shredding them beyond recognition. Hunger took the forefront of his thoughts as the smell of the chosen hero’s soul lingered on his hand. It smelled so good, so fresh, so different than the others. This soul would taste so much better than the others.

“No!” the boy screamed clasping his hands to his head trying to banish the thoughts of eating Will’s soul. “I won’t do it!”

_“But you must,”_ the monster hissed. _“We are so hungry. We don’t want to fade away.”_

“I’d rather fade!” the boy cried as he sunk down to his knees. He had to control the monster. He had to protect Will. Will was so different and kind, he couldn’t let the monster kill him. Why had he let Will touch him? He knew it was a bad idea, yet Will was a healer and that brought him hope that he might be able to keep him from fading without having to eat souls of others. He should have known that no healer would be able to keep him from fading. He should have known better to give into hope.

_“We cannot fade!”_ the monster screamed in rage. _“We must survive! It is what we do!”_

“I don’t want to survive like this anymore.” he sobbed. “I don’t want to hurt Will. Please don’t make me hurt him. He doesn’t deserve to die. I deserve to die.”

_“We can make him feel no pain.”_ the monster coed. _“We can hide in the shadows and wait until he is asleep. He will never know it was us. He was chosen to die for us.”_

“No!” the boy growled as new rips appeared across the carpet by an unseen force. “You will not control me! I will not let you!”

_“We don’t control you,”_ the monster whispered. _“We are you.”_

“I am not a monster!” he cried knowing deep down it wasn’t true. “I’m not a monster...”

_“But we are,”_ the monster murmured. _“We have always been one. Even before we came here. Why do you think we are here?”_

“Shut up...” the boy panted feeling his body start to fade before returning solid again. His entire frame shock as if his under something incredibly heavy. “Please, just go away and let me fade.”

_“We can wait,”_ the monster cackled. _“You will become too hungry to deny us at one point. We always eat our fill in the end.”_

“No,” the boy sobbed as the voice of the monster slowly disappeared along with the invisible pressure. He continued to sob until there were no tears left to cry. Everything seemed hopeless for him. He made the mistake of having Will stay as a guest and now Will was going to suffer the consequences because of it.

“Will,” he sobbed in misery. “I’m so sorry.” All those years he convinced himself that the other died because he had simply been defending himself. Will was different. Will didn’t attack him, but offered to help him. He knew that if he awoke from a gap in his memory to find Will’s cold lifeless body the monster would win forever.

*****

Will watched with his left cheek on the desk’s cold surface, as the pencil he flicked up rolled, then back down. He continued to do this as he thought about all the information he learned about the Ghost King being a son of Hades named Nico. He had tried to go straight to the west wing to tell the boy the good news only to be stopped by the skeleton servants. No matter how much he pleaded with them they would just keep saying that the west wing was forbidden for him to enter. Since he wasn’t getting anywhere with them, he then asked if there was a library and asked if they could show him where it was while he waited for the Ghost King to come out. Despite the fact that he knew who the Ghost King was now, he was still clueless about how to break the curse that kept both of them in the castle so maybe a book would have the answer. He asked the skeleton servant if there were any books on curses pertaining to fading away only to have the skeleton servant answer that there were not, that would have been too easy. He then asked to have all the books on curses brought to him and much to his dissatisfaction, hundreds of books appeared around him.

He had already managed, after spending hours a day reading for six days, to make a small dent in the books since the Ghost King refused to come out of his room and the skeleton servants would keep blocking his way it was the only thing to pass the time. Most of the books were unhelpful while the little information he did find was just different ways curses were normally broken such as reverse the curse, a magic item or drink, an act of selflessness and of course the stereotypical true love’s kiss. Now his dyslexia was really kicking in full swing making it impossible to focus on the task at hand which is why he was currently entertaining himself watching the pencil roll up and down the slanted study desk in the library. He really wished his father’s bow would create more rainbows so he could talk to Annabeth or anyone of the Athena cabin for that matter. However, his father’s bow, currently resting on the desk next to him, hadn’t given off the bright light since the bathroom earlier that week, or at least he thought I had been almost a weeek. Of course with there being nothing but darkness outside any window it was impossible to tell if it was day, for all he knew it could be night or the next day even.

A groan escaped him as he banged his head lightly on the desk, the pencil falling off with a small clink as it hit the floor. Studying medical things was easy for him since it seemed if he was interested in the subject his dyslexia wasn’t as bad. It had started off that way with the books about curses, but after he realized most them didn’t contain anything useful letters seemed to just float around the pages. There had to be something he was missing. He had contemplated trying to get everyone to remember Nico, but without being able to send out any Iris messages since his talk with Hazel put a damper on that idea. Of course there was the problem of Hazel saying that only the Underworld would remember any soul that faded from existence. The only reason he seemed to be able to remember anything of what Hazel said about her brother was probably due the fact he was in the castle. He couldn’t say the same for all those still at Camp Half-Blood or even the gods except Hades.

He turned his head so that his right cheek was on the desk as he looked around the dark library filled with what seemed like the every book that was ever written. There had to be at least one book that would help him save the Ghost King from the terrible cures, but it remained hidden among the shelves. With a heavy sigh, he pulled a book off of one of the many piles and flipped to the first page not even bothering looking at the title. He carelessly flipped through the pages of yet another story of a girl cursed only to be saved by her knight in shining armor’s true loves kiss.

“Why is it that it always ends with true love’s kiss?” Will groaned as he tossed the book into the pile of books already read. The neon pink love potion that the Aphrodite cabin had given him flashed briefly in his thoughts before he shook his head in frustration. While the gods could force two people to fall in love, those truly not in love would only find misery in their future. He doubted that forcing himself to fall in love with Nico would break the curse. Even if it did break the curse, he felt that something worse would follow. Then there was the problem of Nico even loving him back if he did take the stupid potion. He had never truly been in love before. Sure he had dated a couple of girls and guys, but they all ended up with just being friends in the end. The thought of taking the love potion to forcibly fall in love with the son of Hades left a bitter taste in his mouth. While true loves kiss might not be the answer to ending the curse, the thought of kissing Nico didn’t seem like a completely horrible idea. The boy was cute with his dark hair, pale skin, soft amber eyes and his kind yet shy personality was beyond adorable. A warmth spread across his face, taking him a couple of moments to realize he was blushing. Again, he shook his head in frustration remembering what Hazel had said about Nico having found someone before being cursed that truly made him happy. If the curse was broken, it was more than obvious that Nico would go back to the person that made him happy before.

Will felt a tear run down his cheek not really sure why he was crying. He sighed as he wiped the tears away figuring they were from his frustration with everything. He had learned so much in such a little amount of time, only to run face first in a wall. Another sigh escaped him as he picked up another book and flipped through the pages. Yet again, princess or prince cursed, long epic journey, there was a monster fought, true love’s kiss and poof happy ending and into the read pile that went. He picked up another book that looked much older than any of the previous books which gave him a little hope. He quickly discovered that just because the book was old didn’t mean it had any useful information in it. Closing his eyes he rested his head again on the desk unable to find the motivation to pick up another book. Before he knew it, he was fast asleep.

*****

_Will’s eyes had to adjust to the bright sunny plains he was currently in considering he had been in a dark castle for weeks maybe months. Once his eyes adjusted, he looked around spotting a familiar figure sitting on a rock singing softly to himself playing the new musical instrument that Leo had made. It struck him as odd that his father would come to his dreams now after how long it had been since he first arrived at the castle, but he did remember Hades saying that even Hypnos had a difficult time finding him._

_“Hello father,” Will said announcing his presence._

_“Hello Will,” Apollo greeted with a small smile. “I am glad that you are still alive. I was getting worried when Hypnos was having trouble finding your dreams. Did my bow simply trap the Ghost King and that is why you are still stuck inside his castle?”_

_“I actually never used it.” Will admitted with a nervous chuckle as he noticed his father start to frown. “You know I am not a fighter father, yet you gave me your bow. I went to the castle fully intending to use it to defeat the Ghost King, but I couldn’t do it when I actually came face to face with him. He isn’t what everyone says he is. He’s really kind and gentle. He saved my life.”_

_“Saved your life?” Apollo asked with a raised eyebrow._

_“I was kind of talking to Lord Hades,” Will admitted as he poked his two index fingers together. “and I kind of fell asleep in the bathtub almost drowning...”_

_“Of course he would save your life, Will.” Apollo sighed pinching the bridge of his nose. “He needs your soul to survive. If you died before he took your soul then he would too.”_

_“But he hasn’t eaten it yet!” Will protested surprised at the rise in volume in his own voice. “I didn’t fight him and he treated me like a guest! None of the others before me ever thought to talk him, they just attacked! He was defending himself!”_

_“He had to kill them to defend himself?” Apollo asked raising a valid point._

_“There is a monster inside him as a result of the curse.” Will explained with a soft sigh. “Even after talking to Lord Hades and Hazel about it, I still don’t know how to break it. All the books in the library seem to be useless as well.”_

_“About that,” Apollo frowned as he crossed his arms across his chest staring directly at his son. “I was a little hurt that you sent an offering to Hades over me and then when I was able to send some of my powers to the bow you chose to call the daughter of Pluto instead. Why was that?”_

_“Well,” Will confessed with a heavy sigh. “I discovered that the Ghost King is actually a son of Hades that had faded from existence and...”_

_“What?!” Apollo shouted as he stood up emitting a soft glow of light around him. “A son of Hades has been behind this the entire time?”_

_“Father!” Will begged. “Please just listen to me! It’s now what you think!”_

_“Did Hades know?” Apollo demanded as his expression turned dark._

_“Well it’s complicated,” Will answered._

_“Did Hades know?” Apollo asked again._

_“Why does it matter?” Will countered not wanting to start a war between the gods or get Hazel killed._

_“Will,” Apollo growled slightly. “Answer my question.”_

_“The Underworld never forgets a soul that was meant for the Elysian Fields!” Will blurted out as he watched his father’s expressions carefully. The light that was coming off his father seemed to fade slightly as his expression turned from one of anger to one of confusion._

_“What do you mean?” Apollo asked._

_“The Ghost King,” Will explained. “Or Nico, faded away from existence because he was saving Camp Half-Blood when we were helping you become a god again. Apparently it happens from time to time when a demigod uses so much of their powers that their powers end up consuming them. Their very existence disappears and everyone forgets them except those connected to the Underworld.”_

_“So why did this, Nico, not fade away completely?” Apollo asked. “It would seem that the others that faded didn’t seem to remain in a realm that the gods couldn’t touch.”_

_“I don’t know,” Will answered with another heavy sigh as he looked down at the green grass. “Not even Lord Hades knows.”_

_“I find it troubling that Hades would keep such a thing from us.” Apollo mentioned, his expression turning sour._

_“If he would have told you it was one of his children,” Will repeated the question Hades had asked him. “Would you have allowed any of his children to live after that?”_

_“No,” Apollo admitted._

_“Yeah,” Will chuckled with no humor. “I didn’t think so.”_

_“I should tell the others.” Apollo confessed. “Zeus will not be happy.”_

_“Please,” Will pleaded looking into his father’s eyes begging him to understand. “Don’t say anything to the other gods. Just because the Ghost King is a son of Hades doesn’t mean that all his children should be punished. Even Nico doens’t deserve to be punished once the curse is broken. I think everything has to do with him fading, but something happened. I know I can break the curse, I just need time.”_

_“Will,” Apollo sighed. “If Hades doesn’t know how to fix it, I don’t think anyone can. Besides, what happens to the Ghost King after the curse is broken isn’t up to you.”_

_“You said you believed in me the day I left.” Will protested as tears began to stream down his face. “Please believe me when I say I can figure this out in my own way. Fighting isn’t always the answer. I have already proved that with the simple fact that I am still alive. Nico is just lost and needs someone to help him find his way back. He needs kindness, not anger...”_

_“Oh Will,” Apollo said as he pulled his son into his arms. “I do believe in you, but I also worry for you. Sometimes you are too kind for your own good. You always want to see the best in everyone even if they don’t deserve it.”_

_“Trust me father,” Will sniffled as he hugged his father back. “Nico deserves it. He may have killed many, but he never truly wanted to. His soul was meant to go to the Elysian Fields. He sacrificed himself to save everyone at Camp Half-Blood. What more do you need?”_

_“What if Hades lied to you?” Apollo asked. “Gods do lie.”_

_“He didn’t.” Will stated without a second thought. “I can sense that Nico is a good person. He is just lost.”_

_“Just be careful Will.” Apollo sighed. “And keep my bow with you at all times. Promise?”_

_“Do you promise not to tell the other gods about the Ghost King being a son of Hades?” Will asked feeling his father tense a bit before letting out a sigh._

_“I swear on the river Styx.” Apollo answered. “I will not tell the other gods about the Ghost King being the son of Hades. Do you promise to keep my bow with you?”_

_“I promise.” Will agreed with a smile as the dream faded._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really couldn't help having Will watch the pencil go up and down. You can thank How to Train Your Dragon for that one. Lol, by far one of my favorite movies of all times right next to beauty and the beast. 
> 
> There will be some major fluff in the next chapter or two :3 I am looking forward to writing it.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Leave comments, questions or concerns. Maybe a bookmark or kudos. Until next time.


	7. Please Don't Leave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Get ready for some hurt/comfort with is the best :)
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Will sighed as he plopped down on the bed to stare blankly at the ceiling again after days of sorting through books in the library and coming up with nothing. It was difficult to tell how much time had passed since outside the windows was only darkness and it wasn’t like there were any clocks to tell the time. All he knew that it had felt like eternity since he had seen the Ghost King, he now knew to be named Nico, and that worried him. To pass the time that wasn’t spent in the library he had wandered the castle stumbling a kitchen, a ballroom, dinning hall, and a dozen other bedrooms all similar to his own. Every time he had tried to go towards the destroyed hallway of the west wing, the skeleton servants would appear asking him politely to leave.

“Am I just to sit and die of boredom?” he asked the ceiling with a small pout. He sighed as he rolled to his side looking at the fireplace that was still burning even though he had seen no one tend to it. He still couldn’t Iris message anyone since no matter what he tried the rainbows wouldn’t come back due to the darkness of the castle. His dreams had been unusually silent as well, but he figured that was due to the fact that Hypnos couldn’t always find his dreams. It was awfully boring not being able to talk to anyone and equally frustrating because it meant that he couldn’t ask anyone for help with breaking the curse. Sometimes he would try to have conversations with the skeleton servants, but it seemed their conversation skills were limited to only answering questions or being told what to do. When he would get extremely bored he would ask one to recite one of the stories that were on the walls of the castle to kill some time, but it seemed that not even the stories all over the castle could pass the amount of time he had been there.

“That’s it!” Will shouted to no one in particular. “I am done waiting around here for something to happen.” He grabbed his father’s bow and threw it over his shoulders before storming out of the room heading straight for the west wing. Before any of the skeleton servants could really stop him, he sprinted full speed ahead dodging the occasional skeleton that appeared in his path that would put even the best quarterbacks to shame. He may not be a great fighter, but he was definitely a great navigator of a battlefield or avoiding fights for that matter. He had to be in order to avoid the dangers of the battlefield to get to those wounded and pull them to safety.

“Stop!” a skeleton shouted as he finally entered the destroyed hallway of the west wing. “You must not disturb master. He doesn’t like to be disturbed.” The skeletons stood on the threshold of the west wing’s hallway just watching him.

“Well,” Will sighed with a shrug. “If he isn’t going to come to me, then I am going to have to go to him.”

“Master isn’t well right now,” another skeleton said as all of them began to twitch. “It is not safe.”

“I am a healer,” Will smiled. “If he isn’t feeling good then it is my job to make him feel better." Without looking back, he continued down the forbidden hallway taking note of how much darker it was than the rest of the castle. The walls that at one point in time held paintings that were beyond repair as the Ghost King had mentioned in one of their earlier conversations. There were large claw like marks that ran down the walls leaving an odd looking starry night like substance as if they were portals to another dimension. A shiver ran through him as he felt the temperature drop drastically, enough for him to see the small cloud of his breath. Eventually he came upon a large door that was falling off its hinges, but still closed in an odd kind of way. He cringed as he slowly pushed it open creating an awful screeching noise that could rival nails on a chalkboard. The room before him was in the same disrepair as the hallway had been. Furniture was smashed to pieces, curtains and tapestries torn to shreds, mirrors and vases shattered and in the middle of all of it was a shaking figure crouched down.

“Why are you here?!” the Ghost King suddenly shouted, but remained where he was. “I told you not to come here! It is too dangerous! Leave! Now!”

“You have never shown any signs of wanting to hurt me.” Will reminded the figure before him slowly moving closer through the broken pieces of the room. “I find it hard to believe you would hurt me now. Besides, you are in pain and I want to help you if you’ll let me.”

“You can help me by leaving!” the Ghost King yelled still remaining glued to the spot in the middle of the room.

“Please let me help you,” Will offered as he gently reached his hand out to touch the boy’s shoulder. “Nico.” Whether it was the name or the touch that startled the boy he didn’t know, all he did know was that he was thrown across the room by some invisible force. He let out a pained scream as his head crashed against the stone wall before his body fell to the floor were shards of glass cut into his soft skin. He tried to keep his eyes open, but the world was a spinning blur. He heard someone calling his name, but that too turned into a gargled mess. It only took moments for the darkness to consume him completely.

*****

The Ghost King watched with wide eyes as Will’s body crumbled to the floor. He hadn’t meant to harm Will, but the sound of his long lost name with the gentle touch of the boy’s warm hand had startled him. He hadn’t heard his name in so long he had come to believe he hadn’t had a name to begin with. Why had Will touched him when he asked him to leave? Why did Will know his name when he couldn’t even remember? So many questions were running through his head until he remembered that Will was hurt when the smell of blood overwhelmed his senses.

“Will!” Nico screamed as he ran over to the boy. “Will! Oh gods, no. What have I done?” He went to touch the injured boy, but hesitated when he felt the monster slowly start to wake.

 _“Eat his soul,”_ the monster suggested softly. _“Before he dies.”_

“No!” Nico shouted as he closed his eyes taking deep breaths as he forced the monster away. He wouldn’t let the monster win, no, he couldn’t let the monster win. He wouldn’t let Will die. Will wasn’t going to die. After a short struggle for control, Nico’s thoughts of protecting Will won over the hunger of the monster.

When he could no longer feel the presence of the monster he opened his eyes to look at Will. It didn’t look like he was breathing, but something told him that he wasn’t dead. After a while, he noticed the slow rise and fall of Will’s chest causing him to let out a stuttering sigh of relief. Will was alive. He could feel tears of happiness roll down his cheek due to the simple fact that Will was still alive. After a few moments, he looked over Will’s body noticing small cuts all over from the shattered glass he had fallen on. What was worse, blood streamed from the side of his head, clotting in blond hair and gluing the soft strands to the side of his head. As he went to reach out a hand to pick Will up, he noticed that his own arms up to his elbows were completely transparent. He wouldn’t be able to do anything to help Will in the state he was in.

“Servants!” Nico ordered as skeletons appeared around him. “One of you take Will gently to his room. The rest of you get all the medical supplies in the castle and meet us there.” Without a word all but one skeleton disappeared. The remaining skeleton picked Will up as gently as it could considering it was all bones, before heading to the guest room. Nico followed next to the skeleton in silence glancing at Will’s limp body from time to time to watch the steady rise and fall of his chest just to reassure himself he was still alive.

“Gently put him on the bed.” Nico ordered when they arrived at the guest room looking over the various medical items his other servants were able to gather. “Try to use the cloth bandages to wrap around his head and stop the bleeding. But be gentle, please.” The skeleton just nodded before picking up some bandages, gently lifting Will’s head so it could wrap the wound. After three attempts, Nico deemed the bandaging worthy. He then looked over at the cuts that covered Will’s body, some still having glass shards sticking out. He didn’t know if he could trust his servants to be able to remove the glass without causing further injury, so he focused on removing them through the shadows.

“Wrap the rest of his wounds,” Nico ordered once all the shards of glass were removed from Will’s body. Most of the cuts only needed simply bandages since the glass had been shattered into microscopic pieces, but there were a few places where larger shards of glass seemed to cause a bit more damage. There was a large cut that ran across Will’s right thigh, another that had pieced his right shoulder and the last one that left a small gash on the left side of his abdomen.

“Anything else I can assist you with, Master?” the skeleton asked once it had finished bandaging all of Will’s wounds.

“No,” Nico sighed as he collapsed to his knees next to the bed. “Leave us.”

“As you wish,” the skeleton answered with a bow before disappearing into the shadows.

“I’m so sorry, Will.” Nico sobbed as he rested his forehead on the bed, tears falling to the floor. “Please don’t die.” He turned his head so he could watch the steady rhythm of the rise and fall of Will’s chest. It was the only thing that was keeping him calm in his helplessness with the entire situation, the simple fact that Will was still alive. He desperately wanted to do something other than just sit there and wait for the boy to wake, but he was clueless when it came to medical information other than the basics he had already applied. There was also the fact that he was fading with his arms up to his shoulders now transparent with up to his elbows no longer being solid. So he just remained where he was, watching Will until he woke up.

*****

Will groaned as he slowly drifted into consciousness not understanding why his body felt so stiff and sore. Slowly he began to sense other things other than the soreness of his body such as warm blankets on top of his, a soft bed beneath him and the sounds of a crackling fire. He was in his room, but had no memory how he got there. Then as he slowly opened his eyes a sharp pain in his overwhelmed him causing him to hiss in pain. He automatically went to touch his head when something cold stopped him causing his hand to fall back onto the bed.

“Will,” The Ghost King’s voice shuddered in what sounded like a sob. “I’m so sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” Will asked trying to remember what happened. His eyes blinked a couple of times trying to focus the face above him.

“I...” Nico paused. “I struck you. I didn’t mean to, but you touched me while I was battling with the monster, and...and you said my name. It surprised me... I am sorry.” Will let out a soft sigh as the memories of him going to the west wing returned. He had said the boy’s name and touched his shoulder then something threw him across room. The pain in his head spiked again as if yelling at him for being so stupid.

“Nico,” Will smiled softly after the pain receded. He wanted so badly to reach up and wipe the tears from the boy’s face, but his body didn’t seem to working. “It is okay. It was my fault.”

“No,” Nico sobbed softly. “I shouldn’t have struck you. Oh gods Will, I am so sorry I hurt you. I never wanted to hurt you. I am so sorry.”

“It is alright, Nico.” Will said softly as he closed his eyes waiting out fresh waves of pain. “I forgive you. It was an accident.”

“I’m sorry,” Nico repeated. Will didn’t understand why the boy kept apologizing for something that was obviously an accident. He also couldn’t see how anyone could think him to be a monster when no monster would ever cry and apologize for hurting someone. Nico was such a kind soul just trapped in an awful curse.

“There is no reason to apologize for something that has been already forgiven.” Will explained as he took a deep breath trying to focus on anything but the pain.

“You’re in pain,” Nico commented sadly. “I don’t know what to do.”

“My bag,” Will groaned as he turned his head to side where the nightstand was with his bag on top. “Get the ambrosia. It should be in a small brown pouch.”

“Right,” Nico nodded as he summoned a skeleton servant ordering it to look for the ambrosia in the bag. It didn’t make sense to Will why he would have the skeleton servant do it, but the more he thought about it, the more waves of pain erupted from his head so he let it go.

“Is this it?” Nico asked as the skeleton held the small pouch full of ambrosia in his line of sight.

“Yes,” Will sighed with a wince. “Can you help me sit up?” Instead of the cold, soothing hands he remembered from the bathroom incident, hard bony hands helped him sit up causing the world to spin. He gasped as he clung to the skeleton servant for support until the world decided to right itself. A few shaky breaths escaped him before he slowly opened his eyes to look into Nico’s soft amber eyes filled with worry. Their faces were inches away from each other causing him to blush slightly.

“I just need one square,” Will directed as he closed his eyes again knowing he wasn’t going to be conscious for much longer. He felt something pressed to his lips and opened them to eat the ambrosia that tasted of strawberries. Some of the pain receded and he could feel some of his other minor wounds that were causing his body to ache start to heal. Despite the pain turning into just a distant throb he could feel the darkness creeping back.

“Do you need anything else?” Nico asked. “Can I do anything for you to make you more comfortable?”

“No,” Will mumbled. “Just be here when I wake up.”

“I-I..” Nico stuttered unable to make any other words.

“You should wake me every two hours,” Will advised as he started to drift back to sleep not noticing Nico’s reaction to his last request. “Just in case.” He felt himself being lowered back into the bed, consciousness slipping away before his head even hit the pillow.

*****

Will drifted in and out of consciousness, sometimes being woken up by a skeleton servant shaking him gently and Nico’s voice asking him to wake up. He didn’t know how much time had passed, but every so often when he was awake, he would request some water or ambrosia before drifting back to sleep. When he was finally able to open his eyes and sit up without any help, he quickly searched the room for Nico. In a far corner of the room, the boy was curled up in a chair with his legs pulled to his chest and his head buried between them. A smile crept onto his lips as he slowly got up, testing his stability before making his way to where Nico was sitting. It wasn’t until he was a few feet away did he notice that Nico’s arms were completely transparent around his legs and every so often his entire body would flicker like a light that was about to go out.

“Nico,” Will said softly as he crossed the remaining distance. “Let me help keep you from fading.”

“You can’t,” Nico answered not moving from his position, his face still hidden. “Just let me fade Will. I deserve to fade.”

“No you don’t,” Will argued gently placing his hands upon the boy’s shoulders feeling them stiffen under his touch as he knelt down. “You are a hero not a monster. A monster wouldn’t risk fading to protect everyone at Camp Half-Blood. A monster wouldn’t allow me to stay here as a guest. A monster wouldn’t cry and nurse me back to health when I was hurt. You are not a monster that deserves to fade away. You are just lost and need someone to help you. Let me help you, Nico.”

“Have you figured out how to break the curse?” Nico asked as he raised his head to meet Will’s eyes full of hope. The boy’s eyes were red and puffy from crying with the remnants of dried tears still staining his face. His body language became less ridged as his legs dropped down to rest on either side of Will’s body and dangle slightly from the chair.

“No,” Will admitted with a soft sigh. “But I never did get to try and heal you. You kind of ran away from me.”

“I couldn’t let the monster hurt you.” Nico confessed as he bit his lower lip.

“But you have it under control now,” Will stated with a small smile. “So will you let me try and not run away from me this time?” He looked into those soft amber eyes seeing the war that was waging inside them. It showed that Nico didn’t want to risk hurting him again, but behind it was a flicker of hope that it would work.

“What if it doesn’t work?” Nico asked finally looking away. “What if I hurt you again?”

“We’ll never know until we try.” Will suggested with another soft smile. “Besides, if you hurt me again, you’ll just have to nurse me back to health so we can think of another solution.”

“I...” Nico started then stopped as tears started to build up in his eyes. “I don’t want to hurt you again.”

“Sometimes there are things that we are afraid to do,” Will mentioned softly as he moved his hands from the boy’s shoulders to his face to wipe away the tears. “But we have to at least try. If we are always too afraid to try, then what kind of life is that? You’ll always wonder, what if.”

“But,” Nico started.

“No,” Will interrupted. “Stop being afraid Nico. I’m here to help you if you’ll just let me. I think it is why I was chosen to come here, to save you. This curse or whatever is happening to you finally figured out that you didn’t need a hero ready for battle, you needed a healer. Please, let me do the one thing I am good at.” He smiled softly as his eyes locked with Nico’s before he nodded. With Nico’s approval, Will slowly closed his eyes as he sang one of the strongest healing hymns to his father. The soft warmth spread through him, slowly traveling to his hands and into Nico. He could feel, even with eyes closed, that the soft healing warmth was slowly making Nico solid again. When he finally finished the hymn and opened his eyes, the room started to spin. He slumped forward resting his head on Nico’s shoulder for support.

“Will!” Nico shouted. “Are you okay?”

“Just tired,” Will assured him with a small smile as he took Nico’s now solid hand in his own entwining their fingers together. “But look, you’re solid again. No more fading.” He smiled as he closed his eyes taking in the soft smell of earth and pomegranate that was Nico. The boy was still cold to the touch, but more like a cool summer’s breeze than the cold bite of winter, it was perfect.

“Will,” Nico said. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah,” Will replied with a small yawn, his head slipping off the boy’s shoulder onto his chest where he could hear the fast pace beat of the boy’s heart.

“Are you okay?” Will asked with a frown as he continued to listen to the rapid beating of Nico’s heart with closed eyes. “Your heart rate is elevated.”

“I-I...” Nico stuttered. “I should get you to bed.”

“No,” Will protested with a child-like whine not wanting whatever feeling that was rushing through his body to go away as he gave Nico’s hand a soft squeeze. “Only if you stay with me.”

“Of course I’ll stay.” Nico answered softly squeezing Will’s hand in return before pulling it away much to Will’s irritation. He felt like he was flying when two strong arms lifted him up to carry him to the bed only to fist his hands in Nico’s shirt when the boy tried to pull away.

“W-Will,” Nico stammered as he placed his cold hands on top of Will’s in an attempt to pry them off. “What are you doing?”

“I’m afraid if I let go you’ll disappear.” Will answered before he could even process what he was saying, but what he said was the truth. “Please, don’t go.” He opened his blue eyes to see Nico’s face such a bright red it almost glowed.

“I-I-ur...” Nico stuttered again not meeting Will’s eyes. “I already promised I would stay. How about y-you hold my h-hand while you sleep?”

“Fine,” Will agreed with a frown as he closed his eyes releasing Nico’s shirt from his grip. He felt a blanket placed on top of him before a cool hand entwined with his.

“I promise,” Nico said softly. “I won’t run away from you anymore.”

“Good,” Will simply said before entering the land of dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I am not going to lie. I always have the Office on in the background whenever I am doing anything for the most part and the second to last episode came on. Well, they have a scene where Snow Patrols - Open your Eyes plays and it kind of had a hand in the very last scene of this chapter. I love Jim and Pam aka PB and J XD, but Solangelo is better, maybe a tie. lol
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the chapter. You know the routine by now. Leave any questions, comments or concerns or maybe a kudos or bookmark. :)
> 
> Until next time.


	8. A Moment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Are you ready for some cuddling? XD I am!  
> So I go back to work tomorrow, but I am almost done with the next chapter so you might get it tomorrow, maybe the day after.  
> We are over halfway through!  
> Enjoy the chapter!

_Will let out a sigh as he blinked his eyes trying to adjust to the blinding sunlight of a similar grassy green field he had talked to his father before in. Once his eyes were able to adjust, he jumped in surprise to see his father standing before him with his arms crossed and a look of ‘you are in trouble.’_

_“That hymn is dangerous,” Apollo scolded with a frown. “Why did you use it?”_

_“I didn’t think any of the other hymns would work.” Will answered with a sigh. “Nico was almost to the point of fading completely. I couldn’t let that happen.”_

_“You know you didn’t do him any favors by using it right?” Apollo continued, a look of disapproval still on his face. “You know the price for using it.”_

_“I know,” Will sighed unable to meet his father’s stern gaze. “But if it can give me a little more time to figure out how to break the curse then it was worth it.”_

_“Even if you eventually end up giving your soul to him completely in the end?” Apollo asked._

_“Yes,” Will admitted without a second thought._

_“Will,” Apollo sighed in frustration. “I know you think he deserves to be saved, but not at the price of your own soul. You know if he takes it that you’ll be lost forever right?”_

_“You gifted me with healing, father.” Will protested. “I refuse to look away when I see someone suffering. I am going to save Nico, even if it costs me my life.”_

_“You really think giving up your life to save that son of Hades will help him?” Apollo forewarned. “If giving up your life does free him, do you think he’ll really be able to live in the real world after being trapped in the castle for so long?”_

_“He’ll have his sister,” Will mentioned as he clenched his fists. “And the person he loved before everything happened. I think with at least those two he’ll be able to make it. Besides, Hazel said he sacrificed himself to save Camp Half-Blood, I don’t think they will turn him away.”_

_“I’m not talking about them,” Apollo continued. “I am talking about this Nico you are trying to save. Do you think he will be able to forget all the terrible things he has done?”_

_“It doesn’t matter,” Will interjected. “Your powers of prophecy doesn’t apply to anything centered around Nico, so you can’t be certain of anything.”_

_“Will,” Apollo warned. “I don’t always need my powers of prophecy to predict what the future might hold. I have been around long enough to see the signs of the different paths your actions may create. I am just trying to warn you that you are going down a dangerous one.”_

_“Sometimes the right paths are the dangerous ones,” Will proposed with a sad smile. “I have to at least try.”_

_“You are too kind, Will.” Apollo emphasized. “It is both your greatest strength and weakness. I will not grant you the full power of that hymn next time to use it. Do you understand?”_

_“But,” Will attempted to argue._

_“Don’t argue, Will” Apollo interjected. “The only reason why you survived that hymn was because you are my son specially gifted with the power of healing. If you used it again at full power you would die or maybe even fade away yourself. I know you want to save him, but there are some that you can’t always save. I should know. I have watched enough of my children walk into that castle only to die and there was nothing I or any of the gods could do to stop it. I am not going to let you just give your life away trying to save that monster.”_

_“He is not a monster,” Will growled feeling a rage bubble up inside himself that he didn’t know he could even have towards a person, yet alone his father. “He faded because of you! Hazel told me it happened when we were helping you become a god again. I don’t know the details behind it, but if you want to know the probable reason behind him summoning your children it is because he faded helping you. So if you want to blame anyone for all those children, me included, that you couldn’t save blame yourself. Blame the Fates. Blame Zeus for all I care since his anger is what stuck you in that position in the first place. But don’t you dare say he is a monster so you can pass the blame to him. He is a hero that has been forgotten. And if I want to give him my soul to save him, then I don’t need your stupid hymn to do it. Disown me if you want, I don’t care, but I’m done talking to you.” Before his father could say anything more, he forced himself to wake up._

*****

Nico watched Will sleep with a small smile. It had been so long since anyone had talked to him, yet alone been nice to him. Now he was able to hold another person’s, Will’s, hand without the fear of awakening the monster. He couldn’t help but be amazed at how strong the son of Apollo was despite saying he wasn’t a fighter. All others had failed, where he had succeeded. Nico’s eyes scanned the dark room, well, almost succeeded. At least now they had each other to help figure out a way out of this mess and if not, was it such a bad thing that they could remain here together? Nico shook his head knowing that he couldn’t keep Will to himself. He knew that Will had family and friends that were probably worried sick over him being gone. It wasn’t right for Nico to wish they could stay in the castle alone, not after everything Will had done for him. For all he knew, Will had some girlfriend that was desperately waiting for his return and if not he was sure after Will had broken the curse that girls would be lining up to date him. Although he doubted that this amazing boy was single. It was obvious that he was strong yet kind, not something that was always common among demigods, who wouldn’t want to be with him?

Nico let out a frustrated sigh as he turned his head away from Will knowing that the feelings he was having were wrong. He hated that he was like this. Maybe it was some kind of damsel in distress complex that he had developed over the years hoping that his knight in shining armor would finally come and take him away from this nightmare. He felt tears roll down his cheeks, wishing that things were different, yet he didn’t want anything to change. He couldn’t imagine what his life would have been like if Will hadn’t shown up. Will had changed everything. Will had given him something that he hadn’t had in such a long time, hope.

“He’s not a monster.” Will mumbled in his sleep as his hand tightened around Nico’s. Nico didn’t know what kind of dream Will was having, but he felt more tears leak from his eyes. He bit his bottom lip as he held in a sob. Of course Will would have to keep telling himself that the Ghost King wasn’t a monster. Nico couldn’t believe that he had forgotten himself. He was a monster. Before he could fall deeper into his thoughts, Will woke up with a start, shooting directly into sitting position.

“Will are you...” Nico was about to ask only to be pulled into a crushing hug. He felt the other boy shaking with rapid breaths leaving his body.

“Will,” Nico tried again wanting to hug the boy back, but his arms were pinned to his sides by the hug.

“Just please,” Will panted as he tightened the hug resting his head on Nico’s shoulder. “Please, just let me calm down.” The two of them remained like that until Will’s breathing became normal and his body was no longer shaking. Nico wondered what had caused the normally happy and relaxed boy to act this way.

“Did you want to talk about it?” Nico asked unsure of what else to do.

“The gods are stupid and cruel.” Will answered with a bitter laugh that didn’t sound natural coming from him. “I won’t let them dictate what I can and cannot do.”

“You shouldn’t challenge the gods, Will.” Nico cautioned as he pushed the boy away slightly to so he could see his face. He was shocked to see that tears were running down Will’s face and unconsciously went to wipe them away.

“I don’t care!” Will shouted as his body began to shake again, more tears flowing down his freckled cheeks. “They think you don’t deserve to be saved, but they are wrong! They’re wrong...”

“Will,” Nico started to say, but was at a loss for words. He didn’t have the right words to say like Will always had, so instead he pulled the boy into another hug letting him cry into his chest. He wanted to tell Will that the gods were right, he was a monster that didn’t deserve to be saved, but he knew that would only upset the boy more. He knew Will was too kind to see what the gods were trying to warn him about, but how could he tell it to him without upsetting him more? He had already promised he wouldn’t run away from the boy which he now realized was stupid.

“I will save you Nico,” Will whispered as he wrapped his arms around him. “And if you’re thinking you aren’t worth saving you are wrong too. You deserve it more than anyone.” Nico felt the other boy lean heavily on him only to look down and realize he was asleep. It baffled him how Will could sleep in such an awkward position, but he figured he was too exhausted to even notice. He gently tried to pry Will’s arms off him only to find that even in sleep the boy’s grip was like a child unwilling to give up their teddy bear. With a heavy sigh, he managed to crawl into the bed, reclining against the pillows as Will’s head rested on his chest, the boy’s arms still wrapped around his waist. A blush crept across his face when he realized the position they were in, but knew that he wouldn’t be able to escape until Will woke up. He panicked when he realized he would have to explain their predicament once the boy woke and worried that he would discover his disgusting secret.

“Nico,” Will whispered in his sleep tightening his hold and snuggling closer. Nico felt like his entire face had just caught fire wanting nothing more to run away and hide, but also wanting to remain like this forever. He looked down at Will’s sleeping face not able to stop the small smile that found its way to his lips. Will looked so peaceful and beautiful while he slept, almost angelic. Slowly, Nico moved his hand to brush some of the boy’s messy blond curls out of his face noticing the content sigh that escaped the boy when their skin met briefly. He felt tears start to build knowing that this wouldn’t last. Will didn’t feel the same way he did. Will had such a kind heart that these moments were just a result of it. If they were able to break the curse, Will would go back into the sunlight where he belonged, while he would remain in the shadows. No one would ever want a son of Hades that used to eat souls to be around them.

*****

Will sighed contently at the cool yet warm presence that was next to him snuggling closer to it not wanting to wake up just yet. He had never felt so comfortable before, it felt both soothing and right. He didn’t know how he lived his life without this feeling and wasn’t going to ever let it go. After a few moments, he let out a soft yawn finally giving into his mind telling him it was time to wake up. Slowly, blue eyes opened and focused on the slow rise and fall of the pillow he was on wondering how a pillow was breathing. Then he heard the soft heartbeat against his ear, closing his eyes as he listened to its soothing melody. A smile found its way to his lips as he remembered falling asleep in Nico’s arms after his argument with his father. He probably should have mentioned to Nico that he was a cuddler, but it wasn’t like there was a time he could have brought that up.

“Will?” Nico’s voice said softly causing his chest to vibrate against Will’s cheek.

“I’m sorry,” Will chuckled as he sat himself up rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “I should have warned you I am a little clingy when I am tired. I have been sleeping with a Charmander stuffed animal ever since I can remember. Michael had to switch himself out with it a bunch of times when I first arrived at Camp Half-Blood....” He sighed softly as he remembered his brother, it had been a long time since he remembered his first time at Camp Half-Blood.

“I-it’s fine,” Nico stuttered as he quickly sat up and turned away so he was sitting at the edge of the bed. “A-are you feeling better?”

“Yes,” Will beamed as he gently took Nico’s hand trying to get the boy to look at him, but it only made Nico turn his head away. “You better not be running away from me because of my cuddling. I really am sorry if it made you uncomfortable. If it happens again, just shove a pillow in my face and I’ll end up cuddling with that instead.” As he told Nico how to escape his grasp when he was asleep, he really wished he wouldn’t wake up snuggling with a pillow. Waking up with Nico next to him had made him feel something that he couldn’t describe. All he knew that the feeling was wonderful and he didn’t want it to go away.

“I-I said it is fine.” Nico blurted out as he took a shaky breath of air. Will was about to tell him that it was obviously not fine when his stomach let out a growl that echoed throughout the room. A blush spread across his cheeks as he chuckled softly a bit embarrassed.

“Man, I am starving!” he announced with a smile as he pulled his hand away to jump off the bed and stretch. “I must have been out for days. So what do you want to eat?”

“I don’t,” Nico answered with a sigh.

“That can’t be healthy,” Will frowned as he poked at Nico’s stomach creating a blush to form across the boy’s face before he pushed Will’s hand away. “You are too skinny not to be eating. Let me make you something. I found a kitchen that we can use.”

“You don’t understand Will,” Nico sighed as he looked away. “There is only one thing I have ever eaten since coming here.”

“Today is a new day,” Will smiled placing a hand on each side of Nico’s face so he could turn his head so they were looking at each other. “Give it a try?”

“F-fine,” Nico stuttered pushing Will gently away and turning his face away again. “But nothing with pomegranates.”

“Why?” Will asked with amusement wondering if Nico was remembering anything from his past.

“I don’t know,” Nico admitted. “I just don’t want pomegranates.”

“I guess it is a popular choice of the Underworld.” Will laughed. “Maybe you had too many dinners with your father and Persephone or something and everything was pomegranate flavored.” His comment only made Nico frown which only added to his own laughter.

“Fine, nothing with pomegranate.” He continued to laugh as he offered his hand and waited as Nico gingerly took it. “Off to the kitchen we go.” He darted off in the direction of the kitchen dragging Nico behind him.

“So do you remember anything else about the kinds of food like or dislike?” Will asked as he pushed open the door to the kitchen that looked like the kitchen of a restaurant not of an old castle.

“No,” Nico sighed as he shook his head. “Other than my name and not wanting pomegranates, I can’t remember anything.”

“That’s alright,” Will beamed as he moved to the walk-in refrigerator to inspect the ingredients he had still dragging Nico behind him. “It means no matter what I make it will be a surprise. I hope you aren’t allergic to anything. Maybe that is why you said no pomegranates. How funny would that be, a son of Hades being allergic to pomegranates.”

“I’m not allergic to them,” Nico stated as he pulled his hand away with a frown crossing his arms across his chest. “I think...”

“Okay,” Will laughed reaching for a carton of a dozen eggs, a stick of butter and various vegetables. “Whatever you say, Deathboy.”

“Don’t call me that.” Nico warned with a frown. Will just smiled as he exited the refrigerator glancing over his shoulder to make sure Nico was following him before heading to the stove. He grabbed a pan that was hanging above it, placed it on top of one of the burners and turned it on. Once the pan was hot, he put a small amount of butter on it spreading it around by lifting the pan and swirling it around.

“Where did you learn to cook?” Nico asked as he stood next to Will.

“My mom,” Will answered with a soft sigh going into auto cooking mode as he added the eggs and after a few moments the vegetables. He wondered how she was doing, if she even knew he had been missing for however long it was in the normal world time. While it was true that he hadn’t gone home since he arrived at Camp Half-Blood, he still wrote to her constantly. She would notice that he hadn’t written to her. Did his father tell her what happened? Was she completely in the dark about everything worried that something had happened to him? A cool hand touched his arm breaking him from his thoughts as he turned to look at Nico.

“Don’t worry, Will.” Nico smiled softly. “You’ll see her again.” Will couldn’t help but smile back realizing it was the first time he had seen the boy smile. It was a good sign.

“You should smile more,” Will blurted out before his mind could keep himself from saying it watching Nico’s face turn red probably matching his own. Before he could say anything else stupid, he put the second omelette he didn’t even remember making onto a plate he didn’t remember grabbing.

“Let’s eat before it gets cold.” he said quickly as he grabbed the two plates with the omelettes on top heading to a small table in the back of the kitchen that looked to be some kind of prep table, but it would do just fine for what they needed it for. He carefully set down the two plates before looking around for something to sit on. He found two stools sitting next to a supply cabinet, which he grabbed two forks and two knives from, and dragged them over before sitting down and motioning for Nico to do the same. He watched Nico just stare at the omelette in front of him not making any sign he was going to try and eat it.

“Please Nico,” Will begged. “Just try and eat it.” Nico gave him a nervous look, before nodding his head and picking up the fork and knife. Will watched Nico slowly cut a small piece of omelette for himself before gently stabbing it with the fork. After a moment of staring at it, Nico put it in his mouth to eat it. The boy’s face paled as he gently set the fork down next to the plate and turned away from Will.

“What’s wrong?” Will asked placing his hand on the boy’s back realizing the boy was shaking.

“I can’t,” Nico sobbed. “I felt the monster come back for a split second. You may have kept me from fading, but the monster is still inside me.”

“You’re not a monster Nico,” Will protested as he placed both of his hand now on the boy’s shaking shoulders as he massaged them in an attempt to relieve some of the tension in the boy’s body. “You have to understand that.”

“How can you be so sure?” Nico asked softly. Will smiled softly as he turned Nico around to face him taking the boy’s face between his hands and wiping away the tears with his thumbs.

“Because the kindness that you showed taking care of me,” Will explained as he looked directly into those beautiful amber eyes. “A monster would never do that. You are a good person Nico, I only wish you could see it.” He watched as more tears leaked from Nico’s eyes and pulled the boy into a gentle hug resting his head on top of Nico’s as the boy sobbed into his chest. Nico’s sobs eventually stopped, and he pushed himself away from Will wiping the few remaining tears from his face.

“You should eat,” Nico muttered as he pushed the omelette in front of him away. Will nodded as he cut up his now cold omelette, set his knife down then took Nico’s hand in his giving it a gentle squeeze as he ate with his other hand. Nico let out a tired sigh as he leaned against Will, his head resting on Will’s shoulder.

“Thank you,” Nico said softly.

“Anytime Deathboy,” Will replied with a smile letting his cheek rest atop Nico’s head. They remained like that even after Will had finished eating, just sitting in silence, comforted by each other’s presence with their hands still entwined between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love the cuddly Will. X3 As for the Charmander stuffed toy, that isn't because of Pokemon Go. x.x uhg that game is driving me nuts with they way people are playing it. But we aren't going to go on a rant about that. The Charmander is because growing up my sister had that thing with her all the time, kind of like Lionel with his blanket from Charlie Brown
> 
> Well I hope you enjoyed the fluff, because things unfortunately going to stay like that for long. But don't worry, there will be a happy ending, maybe lol. Naw I kid, there will be.
> 
> Until next time!


	9. Out of time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: you might cry at the end of this chapter. You have been warned.
> 
> Sorry it took a little longer than expected for me to update even though I had most of it written. I have just been really tired because of work.

“Will stop,” Nico hissed as he batted the other boy’s hands away. “I am fine.”

“You don’t look fine,” Will protested as he tried grab Nico’s wrist. “You keep getting paler as time passes, and on top of that it looks like you are losing weight that you don’t even have to lose. I’m worried about you.”

“I feel fine,” Nico lied as he swatted Will’s hands away again. He didn’t know how long it had been since Will had kept him from fading by singing a hymn of healing, a couple of days maybe if they went by Will’s sleep schedule, but it seemed to be wearing off. He noticed sometimes, thankfully when Will wasn’t looking, that his hands would flicker between translucency and solidity.

“Nico,” Will frowned crossing his arms and giving him the ‘Doctor Will’ look Nico had become accustomed to over the past few days. “Don’t lie to me. I thought we were past this.” 

It seemed like almost nothing escaped Will‘s eyes when it came to his health which would then lead to a series of annoying questions about it. The real frustrating part about it, was it wasn’t like he could really answer any of the questions because everything about their current situation was new to him. Yes, he noticed he was becoming paler. Yes, he noticed he was losing weight. Yes, he knew the bags under his eyes were darker. The odd thing about it was that besides his hands randomly flickering, he really did feel fine. Although deep down he knew he was going to start fading again, and he knew that Will wouldn’t be able to heal him from it forever. He figured that if they couldn’t find the way to break the curse by then it would be best for him to fade to keep Will safe. It wasn’t like Will would remember anything after he truly faded anyways as Will had explained what he had learned from Hazel and Hades. Of course Will had told him everything in hopes that maybe remembering something would break the curse which it didn’t considering they were still stuck in the castle.

“I’m fine Will,” Nico lied as he rolled his eyes getting up from the study desk he was sitting at in the library. “You’ll know if I am fading. It is kind of obvious when it happens.” He went to go put some of the books away when a warm hand grabbed his preventing him from leaving.

“Please Nico,” Will pleaded. “You promised you wouldn’t run away from me. I would like to think that included trying to hide that something is wrong.”

“I’m not running away,” Nico insisted. “All this is new. I don’t know what you did to keep me from fading, but it worked for now. I know I look like shit, but I honestly feel fine. So please stop worrying. We need to focus on breaking this curse before that hymn you sang wears off.”

“Uhggg...” Will groaned letting go of his hand and deflating on the study desk he was sitting at. “I don’t know how many more books I can read before my head explodes.”

“How do you think I feel?” Nico objected. “At least you can sleep to get away from it. I haven’t slept since probably before the castle. Even though you had a head start, I have still read more books than you have.”

“I know you take breaks,” Will said not moving from his position. “What have you been up to anyways? You aren’t always here when I wake up and I freak every time thinking you faded.” Will looked up with a frown.

“Something for you,” Nico hinted with a small smile. “Besides, if I faded, you wouldn’t be in this castle waking up. So stop worrying.”

“It is my job to worry,” Will claimed still frowning. “Especially when it comes to you. You are definitely my top five most stubborn patients.”

“I’m not your patient.” Nico frowned.

“I healed you,” Will stated. “That makes you my patient and since I don’t know how this whole fading business works, I need to keep a close eye on you in case you fade again. Doctor’s orders.” Nico couldn’t help but roll his eyes at Will’s stupid catch phrase. Will used it every time they were arguing about his ‘condition’. 

“Don’t you roll your eyes at me,” Will demanded.

“Yes mother,” Nico replied sarcastically only to roll his eyes again. He picked up a few books to put away before he started to head down one of the many dark isles.

“Where are you going?” Will asked now sitting up in his chair.

“To put the books away.” Nico stated as he lifted the books slightly as if he needed to prove it.

“Why don’t you just have your skeletons do it?” Will asked as he tilted his head to the side in a confused manner.

“Because I am also looking for things they might have missed.” Nico lied knowing that summoning his servants would only drain him more. He needed as much of his energy as possible to accomplish what he had planned for Will.

“I’ll come with you then.” Will yawned as he got up and stretched.

“I’m not going to disappear, Will” Nico sighed not being able to help but roll his eyes yet again.

“You might,” Will frowned placing his hands on his hips. “Which is why I am coming with you.”

“I don’t need you babysitting me,” Nico frowned right back.

“I beg to differ.” Will said taking Nico’s hand into his, eyes meeting. “You’re fingers are like ice. Are you sure you are okay?”

“I am sure.” Nico sighed as he pulled his hand away turning back towards the isle he was about to walk down. “Are you coming?”

“Yep!” Will smiled as he took Nico’s hand again swinging it back and forth as they walked, Nico barely holding onto the books he was carrying in his other hand.

“You said my fingers were like ice.” Nico frowned at the smiling boy next to him. “So why are you holding my hand?” Despite asking the question, he didn’t pull his hand away enjoying its warmth. Before, this simple gesture would have made him blush, but it was amazing how quickly he had gotten used to Will’s touch, it was normal. There were times when the boy would surprise him with a jump hug or randomly poke his face and that would cause him to blush, but something as simple as holding hands was common now which he enjoyed more than he let on.

“I was hoping that I could warm them,” Will confessed with a small sigh. “But it seems like they are going to stay that way. Are you sure you haven’t been fading?”

“What if I was?” Nico asked as he stopped in the middle of the isle so he could look Will in the eyes. “Would you keep healing me until you faded away yourself?”

“I was hoping we would break the curse before that,” Will admitted looking away.

“Will,” Nico sighed pulling his hand away. “I know you think I am worth saving, but not at the risk of you fading or dying yourself.”

“You sound like my father,” Will groaned as he rolled his eyes in annoyance.

“Your father is right,” Nico insisted. “I’m not worth it. If I lose you after all this, I know that I won’t be able to forgive myself. I would be lost forever anyways without you. So please, when the time comes, let me fade. You won’t remember me anyways.” 

“I won’t let it get to that,” Will said stubbornly as tears started to form in his eyes. “Why are you talking like this? Are you starting to fade again? Don’t you dare lie to me, Nico.”

“My hands flicker sometimes,” Nico finally admitted with a sigh not being able to lie to Will any longer, not with the look he was giving him now. “But it doesn’t happen often and they remain solid so it is nothing to worry about right now.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Will demanded.

“Because you worry too much,” Nico replied. “And if you were worried about me fading you wouldn’t be focused on trying to figure out how to break the curse which should be our main focus. If we break the curse, everything will be fixed. That is the most important thing right now.” He knew that if they broke the curse not everything would be fixed. He would still be stuck in the shadows, but at least Will would be happy that they were both saved in the end. Not like it mattered, even if they failed and he faded completely way, Will wouldn’t remember. That was what happened when someone faded.

“We will find a way to break it.” Will demanded stubbornly wiping away his tears. “But please promise me if you start fading more than just your hands you’ll tell me.”

“Promise,” Nico lied looking down the dark isle of the library. He didn’t want show Will what he had been working on just yet, but something told him he didn’t have much time. He set down the books off to the side and gently took one of Will’s hands.

“Will,” Nico said softly with a small smile. “Come with me, I want to show you something.” Will nodded as Nico led him from the library hoping Will didn’t notice the tears starting to form in his eyes.

***** 

“Come on Nico,” Will laughed as he was led by Nico through the castle’s hallways with his eyes closed. “I already know where everything is in the castle. Closing my eyes is stupid.”

“I guess I forgot to mention that I can change the castle as I please,” Nico bragged.

“Is that why the fireplace randomly appeared in my room?” Will asked with a frown. “I thought I was crazy.”

“You are crazy,” Nico laughed softly. “But yes, I made it appear when you fell asleep after our first encounter. You were still cold after having three blankets piled on top of you.”

“So you were the one that put those there,” Will chuckled.

“You probably would have froze to death if I hadn’t,” Nico laughed again. “You are welcome.”

“My hero,” Will laughed as he imitated a girl’s voice.

“Wait right here,” Nico said letting go of Will’s hands. Will slightly panicked almost opening his eyes just so he could keep track of Nico, but he decided against it. He heard Nico shuffling around a bit surprised when he felt the sudden warmth of the sun of his face.

“Open them,” Nico said.

Will opened his eyes having to blink away the brightness that his eyes were no longer used to. When his eyes finally adjusted he realized that the large entrance doors that were normally locked shut were now open, looking over Camp Half-Blood from the edge of the forest. He automatically felt himself being drawn forward, when he remembered Nico standing next to him. He took one of the boy’s cold hands as he tried to pull him closer towards Camp Half-Blood only to find that Nico wasn’t budging from his spot.

“I don’t understand.” Will said noticing that Nico’s grip on his hand tightened slightly.

“You don’t deserve to be stuck here.” Nico said so softly it was almost a whisper not meeting Will’s eyes. “It took a while to find, but I found your camp. You can leave here.”

“I’m not leaving without you,” Will frowned as he tried to touch Nico’s face only to have him back away. “Nico?” He tried to get the boy to look at him again, but again was met with resistance as he turned his face away.

“Time is running out,” Nico quietly confirmed. “I can’t hold the castle still forever.”

“I don’t understand.” Will said softly, again trying to get Nico to look at him to no avail. 

“The castle is constantly moving to keep the chosen hero trapped,” Nico explained. “But I learned over time that I could land it places, but it is difficult to keep still for long. I can only hold it in place for no longer than fifteen minutes and even that is pushing it. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but I really thought...” Will didn’t need Nico to finish the sentence, he knew the boy was hoping they were going to be able find a way to break the curse.

“We still have time.” Will offered giving Nico’s hand a soft squeeze.

“Will,” Nico said softly as he shook his head. “You have already given me so much, the only thing I can offer to you is your freedom. Please, just leave. You’ll forget everything anyways.”

“Nico,” Will whispered about to pull Nico into a hug when he heard a familiar voice shout his name. He looked out the castles doors to see Lou Ellen and Cecil outside.

“Will!” Lou Ellen shouted as she sprinted towards the castle’s entrance only to be thrown back by an invisible force landing on her rear a few feet away with a small wince.

“Lou,” Cecil panted as he finally caught up. “I don’t get the whole Mist thing, but will you please...” Cecil stopped as he finally noticed Will. “Will!” He was about to try and enter the castle when Lou Ellen grabbed him seemingly recovered from her tumble.

“Don’t,” Lou Ellen warned. “It has a barrier. We can’t enter.” Will just stared at his friends not sure they were real or not.

“Will,” Cecil frowned. “Is it really you? I feel like I am seeing a ghost.”

“It’s me,” Will said finally able to find his voice. “Why are you in the forest anyways?”

“The Mist has been acting weird in this area for a while,” Lou Ellen explained. “I came here to check on it a few times and noticed the Ghost King’s castle flickering in and out of existence.” Will watched her eyes move from him to Nico as her eyes narrowed and frown appeared on her face.

“This is Nico,” Will introduced them as if everything about the situation was normal. He tried to pull the boy more out of the shadows, but it only caused him to recede farther into them.

“Nico?” Cecil asked with a raised eyebrow. “What happened to the Ghost King? Are you both prisoners there?” Will couldn’t help but laugh at his friend’s complete obliviousness to the obvious sometimes. 

“Nico is the Ghost King stupid,” Lou Ellen pointed out, her glare still focused on Nico’s half shadowed form.

“What?!” Cecil shouted as he stared into the castle dumbfounded. “That little kid is the Ghost King? Seriously?” Will felt Nico try to pull his hand away, but Will only tightened his grip with a frown.

“You should go to them,” Nico whispered still trying to pull his hand away. “I can’t hold the castle still for much longer.”

“I’m not going to leave you here alone to fade.” Will stated.

“Will,” Lou Ellen called. “What are you waiting for?”

“I can’t leave Nico,” Will answered. He wasn’t going to leave until both of them could, or he wasn’t leaving at all.

“Why not?” Cecil asked as he put a hand on the hilt of his sword. “Is this the monster’s some kind of sick joke?”

“He’s not a monster,” Will argued as he sent his friend a glare. He was so sick of people calling Nico a monster. Nico was the opposite of a monster, he was kind and compassionate. It angered him that no one else could see it.

“Everyone misses you Will,” Lou Ellen said softly as tears started to form in her eyes. “Camp hasn’t been the same without you.”

“Lou,” Will replied with a soft smile. “I will return, but only after I have broken the curse and saved Nico.”

“Will,” Nico said softly as he pulled Will into a hug forcing Will to turn his back to his friends. “Thank you and Goodbye.” Before Will could realize what was happening, Nico pushed him out of the castle back to Camp Half-Blood.

“Nico!” Will screamed as he fell backwards colliding with his two friends watching Nico collapse to his hands and knees with a scream of pain. He quickly untangled himself from his friends, running back towards the castle entrance as it started flicker out of existence.

“Will!” he heard his friends call after him, but ignored them focusing on one thing, getting to Nico. Knowing he wasn’t going to make it in time, he took a literal leap of faith in a desperate attempt to make it before the castle completely disappeared. A sharp pain coursed through his body as he collided with the hard floor of the castle. He groaned as he got onto his hands and knees, shaking his head trying to clear his thoughts.

“Nico,” Will gasped when the pain receded allowing him to clear his thoughts. He looked up to see the boy collapsed face down on the floor, his body flickering as shadows slowly wrapped themselves around him.

“Nico!” Will shouted as he darted over to the fading boy. He was surprised to find he was able to turn Nico onto his back despite the complete translucency of Nico’s body. He noticed that Nico’s eyes were closed in pain as he took short, sharp breaths.

“Nico!” Will shouted again feeling tears streaming down his face. “Please don’t disappear.” He was about to sing a hymn of healing, when he realized that he couldn’t remember any of them. Even in the mist of battle he had never forgotten any hymns of healing, so he couldn’t understand why it was happening now. Then he remembered the argument he had with his father.

“No, no, no, no, no” Will sobbed as he clenched his eyes shut feeling his entire body shake. He was going to lose Nico because he had angered his father, even daring him to disown him. He hadn’t thought his father would actually do it and take his gifts away. A cool hand on his face startled him as he opened his eyes to stare back into Nico’s.

“Will,” Nico whispered wincing in pain when his hand passed briefly through Will’s face falling back to the floor. “Don’t cry. It is better this way.”

“How can you say that?” Will asked.

“You have a place to go back to where people miss you.” Nico answered with a sad smile. “I have already been forgotten, it doesn’t matter if I fade completely. You won’t remember either. It will be as if none of this happened.”

“Nico,” Will sobbed as he closed his eyes again. “Please don’t disappear. I love you.” He hadn’t meant to say the last part, not even sure were it had come from. He hadn’t known Nico for long, but he felt as if he had known him forever. It was like his heart was trying to tell him something his mind just couldn’t understand each time they were together and only now that he was on the verge of losing Nico forever did he finally understand. Just like a majority of the fairy tale books he had read in the library, he had realized too late what his heart was trying to tell him.

“I loved you too,” Nico whispered causing him to open his eyes and watch as Nico completely fade away as he screamed a name he could no longer remember.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah...I really did cry when I was writing the last part of this chapter, but don't worry! It isn't the end and I did promise a happy ending. So don't get too mad or upset. Until the next time.


	10. Lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: there are some thoughts of suicide in this. So read at your own risk. (Don't worry though, no actual suicide or attempts)
> 
> Sorry for taking so long, but I kind of had a difficult time writing this, but here it is.

Will sat on the grass in a small clearing of the forest unable to stop crying. He could hear his friends calling his name and asking if he was alright, but was unable to answer. He wanted to tell them that everything was fine with his normal smile, but he wasn’t fine. It felt like he had lost a part of himself like he was torn in two. What had he lost? He couldn’t remember, but his chest hurt. He placed a hand over his heart feeling the rapid heartbeats in his chest as more tears fell from his eyes. There was no wound on his chest, so he couldn’t understand why it hurt so much. He could feel he had scrapes and bruises, but their pain was nothing compared to the invisible wound of his chest.

The last thing he remembered was his father sending him on a quest to destroy a monster. No. Monster didn’t sound right. If he wasn’t fighting a monster, then what was he fighting? He tried to take a deep breath as he closed his eyes in an attempt to remember anything else. He remembered his father giving him his bow. A castle. A fight. A fight with his father about something. What had he fought with his father about? His father was mad that he had used a hymn of healing. Why had he used a hymn of healing? It didn’t make sense. He was sent to the castle to destroy the monster. Why did his father chose him to go fight? He wasn’t a fighter. Was that why he had used a hymn of healing? Was that the only way to defeat the monster? No. Monster didn’t sound right even though it was the only word his mind would supply him. He was missing something, forgetting something, but what was it?

Will doubled over, his forehead on his folded arms as he continued to sob for no reason. He felt a warm hand on his back rubbing soft circles trying to get him to calm down, but it only made it worse. The hand was too warm. It didn’t feel right. He shook his head as he swatted the burning hand away from him. He didn’t want anyone to touch him. He wanted to be alone. Hands made their way underneath him as they attempted to get him up, but he wasn’t going to move from this spot. He couldn’t move from this spot until he remembered what he had lost. He remembered his father’s bow, not feeling it on his back. Could that be what he had lost? He slowly lifted his head to see his father’s bow and satchel next to each other in the grass in front of him. No. He had lost something else. Something more important. What could be more important than his father’s bow? He had gone alone, so it wasn’t like he had lost someone he cared about. He couldn’t breathe. He had lost someone. Who had he lost? Had there been another trapped in the castle? Had they been injured? It would make sense since he remembered using a hymn of healing, but what didn’t line up was that his father was upset about him using it. Which one did he use?

“Will,” his father’s voice said softly as he felt a warm hand on his shoulder. “It is for the better.” He looked up at his father not understanding what he was talking about, but felt a fresh set of tears break though. Something told him that his father was wrong. How could his father be wrong? His father was the god of prophecy. If his father said it was for the better, then it had to be true.

“The souls that had been stolen were already lost,” his father explained as he tried to wipe Will’s tears away only to find they seemed endless. “You couldn’t save them without your soul being lost too. I know you wanted to save them and send them to the Underworld where they belong, but there were too many. Remember what I said? That you can’t save everyone. But you know what you did do? You destroyed the monster. You saved so many more by doing so. No ones soul will ever be stolen again.”

“Not a monster,” Will whimpered surprised he had even found his voice. “Not a monster.” He didn’t know why he kept repeating those three words, but he did. It was as if someone had placed some kind of spell on him to repeat those three words over and over. He didn’t even understand the words. His father had just told him that he had destroyed the monster that had been stealing demigods’ souls since the beginning of Camp Half-Blood, but he couldn’t remember a monster. He couldn’t remember anything.

“Will,” Apollo sighed as he lifted Will up. “I’m sorry that I chose you for this quest, but I had thought you would be able to slay the monster with my bow and save the souls that it had stolen. I was wrong.” Will shook his head as he clung to his father repeating the same three words as he continued to sob. Everything his father said felt wrong. He knew deep down that he hadn’t defeated a monster, that whatever had disappeared wasn’t a monster at all. Yet, he still couldn’t understand if a monsters wasn’t stealing souls, then what was? Soft warmth spread though his body and he knew his father was healing him. However, with the soft warmth of healing he also felt a drowsiness overcome him.

“Rest Will,” his father whispered. “You deserve it.” Will shook his head stubbornly trying to ward off the drowsiness. He was afraid of falling asleep feeling like only nightmares would haunt his dreams. It was a useless attempt as the warmth consumed his body gently convincing him to sleep.

*****

_Will looked around at the complete darkness that surrounded him feeling a shiver going up his spine. It wasn’t until he turned around did he notice he wasn’t alone, that there was a body on the ground flickering in and out of existence like a ghost, but something told him it wasn’t. Before his mind could think of what to do next, his legs automatically took him to where the body was. He slowed as he approached looking down at a boy, whose face was completely blurred. He felt his chest tighten painfully as he continued to look down at the boy’s flickering body, cold tears running down his cheeks._

_“No don’t go!” he heard his voice shout off in the distance causing him to look up at an image of himself sobbing as he was holding a flickering body of what he assumed to be the same boy in front of him. “Why did you have to do that? Why? Please don’t leave me, ....” Will strained his ears trying to hear the name that he was calling in the image before him, but no matter how hard he tried the name was lost._

_“No, no, no, no, no,” he heard his voice again as he turned around to see as similar scene unfolding only this time it seemed the boy was talking to him, even touching his cheek._

_“How can you say that?” he heard himself ask as sobs shook his body._

_“....” he heard himself sob the name that would not reveal itself to him. “Please don’t disappear. I....” The scene disappeared along with the boy’s body that had previously been on the ground leaving him alone. More alone than he had ever felt in his entire life. He clenched a fist to his chest as it tightened again. What was he going to say? Was he apologizing to the boy for not being able to save him, not once, but twice? How could he be unable to save someone twice? Why hadn’t he been able to heal the boy? Why had the boy’s body been fading? Was the boy really a ghost? But the real questioned remained, who was this boy?_

_He couldn’t breathe. His chest ached. Unable to stand any longer, he fell to his knees. He felt so lost. So alone. So incomplete. The darkness swirled in front of him taking a human like figure without any real details. The dark figure slowly got down on its knees in front of Will, gently cupping his cheek._

_“Just breathe,” whispered the scratchy voice of the figure. Will just stared blankly at the strange figure before him as he concentrated on his breathing. He took a large breath, then released it. Large breath, then release. Large breath, then release._

_“There you go.” the figure said as Will finally got control of his breathing. He wanted to ask the dark figure who they were, but was unable to find his voice._

_“I will be nothing soon,” the figure answered Will’s thoughts. “I am sorry you are suffering, but it will only last until tomorrow’s sunset.” The figure leaned forward placing a gentle kiss on Will’s lips._

_“Goodbye Will,” the figure said before disappearing back into the shadows as the bright light of consciousness engulfed him._

*****

Will slowly opened his eyes to stare at one of the many white privacy curtains of the infirmary. He could feel fresh tears running down his face trying to remember the dream, but all he could remember was feeling lost and alone. He heard the sound of voices as the doors to the infirmary opened then closed. Not wanting them to know that he was awake, he rolled away from the curtain and closed his eyes as he steadied his breathing.

“I don’t know what is wrong with him,” his father’s voice said sadly, the sound of the curtain being drawn back echoed through the room. “I knew that fighting the monster would be difficult, but this... He isn’t hurt so I can’t heal this. I don’t even know what is causing him so much pain.”

“He is strong Apollo,” Chiron’s voice encouraged. “He will come around in his own time. Quests are never easy for any demigod, and some are more difficult than others. They can leave scars that even you can’t heal. The fact that he had to go alone only made it more difficult. But you have to believe in him.”

“But I didn’t,” Apollo sighed. “He told me to believe in him and I told him I did, but when he used the one hymn of healing that all my children are told not to use I got scared and angry. I told him he wasn’t allowed to use it. That he wasn’t allowed to give up his soul to save anyone. We had an argument and he said that he was going to do it anyways. So I took away my gifts in anger and fear. I couldn’t use my gifts of prophecy to see what was going to happen so I got scared...”

“You did what any parent would have done,” Chiron said. “You did what you thought was best for him. Was it the right choice? We don’t know. But Will is lucky to have you as his father.”

“What if he doesn’t forgive me?” Apollo asked.

“He will,” Chiron answered. “He has such a kind heart, I don’t think there is room for hate.”

“I hope so,” Apollo sighed. Will felt his father place a soft kiss on his cheek with a tear following close behind before the two immortals left the room.

Will just stared at the wall not able to feel anything. He knew he should talk to his father. He knew that he should go see his siblings and friends, but he didn’t want to be around anyone. He didn’t even want to be around anymore. The world held nothing for him, so what was the point in being in it? He slowly sat up as his eyes examined the empty infirmary. He knew it would be easy to overdose on some of the drugs they had, or even ambrosia for that matter.

_“Will Don’t_ ,” a voice, that wasn’t his own, said softly in his head.

Will shook his head feeling tears start to build up again. Why did that voice make him so sad? He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, got up and went to the bathroom. Once inside he went directly to the sink, clutching the sides for support as he started to sob.

_“It’s okay Will,”_ the voice said again as he felt a cool pressure on his back.

Will looked up into the mirror to see a boy behind him, dark hair, pale skin, amber eyes. He jumped in surprise, turning around to see nothing there. His eyes went back to the mirror that only contained his image. Rage bubbled inside him for reasons he couldn’t explain as he punched the mirror. The mirror shattered, blood ran down his arm, but he didn’t feel the pain. No physical pain could compare to the pain he felt inside. A pain he couldn’t explain, but was as real as the pain of his injured hand.

“Will!” his father shouted taking Will’s bloodied hand into his own and healing it. “What are you doing?”

“Let go!” Will shouted removing his hand before it was completely healed. “Don’t touch me!”

“Will!” Apollo yelled grabbing onto Will’s shoulders to hold him place. “Calm down!”

“No!” Will screamed as he thrashed against his father’s grasp unable to get away. Eventually he gave up his struggle and just collapsed to his knees sobbing bringing his father down with him.

“Will,” Apollo said softly. “Please tell me what is wrong. Let me help you.”

“No,” Will sobbed as he buried his face into his hands. No one could help him with what he was feeling. No one understood the pain he was in. He didn’t even understand the pain he was in.

“You can’t help him Apollo,” a female voice said from the doorway of the bathroom. “Love hurts more than any physical wound. And those wounds you can’t heal.”

“What are you talking about Aphrodite?” Apollo asked as Will heard her approach.

“He has lost the one he loves,” Aphrodite sighed as she kneeled down gently taking Will’s face between her hands so that their eyes connected. “Isn’t that right?”

Will shook his head not understanding what she was talking about. He had never been in love before, how could he lose the one he loves? The pain in his chest returned even worse than he had ever felt before. If it was love, how could he forget? How could he forget the one he loved? Nothing made sense. He closed his eyes as his chest felt like it was going to explode.

“Will,” Aphrodite said softly causing him to look back at her. “Your mind may have forgotten, but your heart never does. Not when you have found the one you are truly meant to be with.”

“He has never been in love,” Apollo frowned. “I would have known.”

“Oh?” Aphrodite replied with a raised eyebrow and a small smirk. “Spying on your children now Apollo?”

“I keep an eye on them,” Apollo objected as he stood up. “But if he was in love, care to shed some light as to whom it might be oh great goddess of love?”

“It seems that even the gods have forgotten.” Aphrodite answered with a sad smile as she wiped Will’s remaining tears away. “But don’t worry child. Your quest isn’t over yet.”

“We all forgot? Well isn’t that convenient!” Apollo interjected. “Besides, he killed the monster. What more to the quest is there?” Will flinched at the mention of the monster he had killed. The more he heard the word monster, the more he hated it. Yet he couldn’t understand why the word bothered him so much. Was the one he was supposed to love, according to Aphrodite, in fact the monster that his father kept mentioning?

“Oh Apollo,” Aphrodite sighed with a shake of her head. “You are so oblivious when your gifts of prophecy fail you. Sometimes when it seems a quest has been fulfilled, it is actually just beginning.” She turned her attention back to Will, moving her hands from his face to his hands where a small bottle appeared. Will looked down to see the neon glow of the love potion that the Aphrodite cabin had given him before he started the quest. How was a love potion supposed to help anything? He had supposedly lost the one he loved, so was he supposed to force himself to love another in order to get over it? He looked back up to meet Aphrodite’s gaze that seemed to see his doubts about taking a love potion.

“Love potions react differently to each person,” Aphrodite explained. “If someone has yet to find love it can either force them to love the first person they see, or help them find the one they are truly meant to be with. In your case, I believe it will help you find the answers you are looking for about the love that you have lost.” She gently closed Will’s hands around the bottle with a smile. “But do not fear child, my son Eros has confirmed that the one you are truly connected to has yet to disappear. However, I fear that you don’t have much time to save the one you love. Just let your heart guide you.” A cloud of perfume appeared as the goddess disappeared causing Will to sneeze. Once he was done sneezing, he looked down at the love potion in his hand unsure of what to do.

“It’s your choice Will,” Apollo said as he placed a hand on Will’s shoulder. “But be warned, love can be cruel.” With a flash of light, his father disappeared leaving him alone in the bathroom to decide his fate. As he stared at the love potion, he noticed something odd on his finger through the surprisingly clear neon pink. Keeping the potion in his right hand, he lifted his left hand to inspect the skull ring on his left ring finger. The red eyes of the skull flickered briefly as the ring began pulse like a heartbeat. Something told him that the ring was connected to the one he lost. He looked back at the love potion. Without a second thought, he opened it and drank it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the reason for Apollo saying that he sent Will on the quest has to do with everyone forgetting about Nico, aka the ghost king. So instead it would have to be an actual monster.
> 
> As for 'Nico' actually showing up, I will leave that up to you. XD Is it just figments of Will's memory? Or is it actually Nico?
> 
> Until next time.


	11. Memories Part I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so as I was typing this out, I realized that I was on page 12... so this was supposed to be one chapter of Will getting his most important memories of Nico back....but yeah, It is going to turn into two....
> 
> Hey, at least you get a quicker update! XD
> 
> So, there are kind of Graphic Depictions of Violence since there are some scenes during battles....but to be honest, they really aren't that bad...
> 
> Anyways, I hope you enjoy.

**_Flashback_**

Will was sitting on his bunk inside the Apollo cabin hugging his Charmander plush torn between wanting to go home and staying at the camp. He knew that if he went home he would put his mother in danger and that he wasn’t ready yet to fight the monsters that would attack him. Ever since arriving at Camp Half-Blood, he had trained with the rest of his siblings in archery, something that would seem for a child of Apollo, but ultimately was difficult for him. His half brothers Lee and Michael were patient teachers, but even they were baffled at the fact that Will never hit the bullseye every time. Will was always able to hit the line between the yellow and the red, but never directly in the yellow. It was as if there was an invisible barrier around the yellow keeping him from hitting it. According to the history of the Apollo Cabin, a child of Apollo had never been just decent at archery. Michael reassured him that it was probably due to the fact that he was still getting comfortable to the life of Camp Half-Blood.

He hugged his Charmander closer as he buried his face into in an attempt to hide the fact he was crying. His entire life his mother had raised him to always put on a smile while around others, even if it seemed there was no reason to smile. She told him that as long as he smiled, everything would eventually get better. It was hard for him to believe that everything would get better when he was known at the worst archer in the Apollo cabin. He didn’t have any gifts of prophecy like some of his other siblings. He wasn’t specially gifted with musical talent either. While his voice wasn’t horrible, it was just normal. Even when he played musical instruments or painted or wrote poems it was just normal, not amazing. He felt like his father, Apollo, was angry with him or he wasn’t good enough to be blessed with gifts like his other siblings. He was useless no matter how he looked at it. If the great battle was coming like everyone whispered it was, he was sure he would be the first to die.

A loud noise between a crash and a splash caused him to jump and hit his head on the bunk above. He hissed in pain as he rubbed his head hearing the angry screams of women. Curious as to what caused the noise he looked out the window to see steam coming from the lake, though it was hard to see what was going on with Artemis Cabin across the way somewhat blocking his view. He quietly got off his bunk and headed out of the Apollo Cabin towards the lake, stopping at the front of the Artemis Cabin and peaking around the corner. 

There was a giant glowing bus on the shores of the lake, steam still billowing around it with melted canoes scattered around. He watched as the legendary Percy Jackson stepped off the bus, followed by the also legendary Thalia Grace, the satyr Groover and a bunch of girls he didn’t recognize. A kid about his age jumped excitedly off the bus pointing towards the rock wall seeming to ask an irritated Percy Jackson about it. It was then he noticed his father stepping off the bus, that Will now realized wasn’t just a bus, but the sun chariot.

Will couldn’t help but be a bit jealous of the new boy. Not only was he excited to be at Camp Half-Blood, but he was also personally escorted here by two legendary heros and Apollo himself. Will’s trip to Camp Half-Blood wasn’t nearly as amazing, and it almost ended with both him and the satyr that was sent for him dead. He watched his father say something to Percy Jackson before leaving in the now red Maserati. It hurt that his father wouldn’t even say hello or even explain to him why he didn’t have amazing gifts like his siblings. Maybe his father did hate him for being so weak and helpless.

“Ahem,” a girl’s voice coughed bringing him face to face with a dark skinned girl with black hair pulled back into a high ponytail. “Can we help you?”

“S-sorry,” Will stuttered now realizing the group of girls behind her all with silver bows on their backs. “I just wanted to see what the commotion was.” He looked down feeling stupid that he didn’t realize the group of girls that had exited his father’s sun chariot were the Hunters of Artemis. He could feel the power of the moon wrapping around them as they all just stared at him.

“Well it’s over,” the girl frowned. “You can go back to the Apollo Cabin.”

“Y-yes,” Will stuttered again before he darted back across the small field that divide the cabins in half. He slammed the door to the Apollo Cabin shut and leaned against it taking deep breathes trying to calm himself down. Even though Artemis was his father’s twin sister, he knew that Artemis and her Hunters didn’t take kindly to boys regardless of their parentage. The fact that Artemis’ Hunters were here meant that something big was about to happen, especially if Apollo had brought them.

*****

Will sat at the Apollo table as he pushed the food on his plate around not feeling hungry. He kept thinking about what he had seen earlier that morning when the group of Artemis’ hunters, Thalia Grace, Percy Jackson and the new kid were dropped off by his father. It seemed that only those important enough got to talk to the sun god, which would include being a Hunter of Artemis or one of the big three’s children. He couldn’t help but wonder whose child the boy was and wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if he was in fact one of big three’s children. His eyes looked up at the new boy talking excitedly at the Hermes’ table holding what looked to be a figurine of some kind. Now that he was closer, he could see the boy had soft olive skin, with straight short black hair and soft amber eyes. Just by looking at the boy one couldn’t determine which godly parent he had, but he was certain it had to be Zeus or Poseidon. Not like either god would risk claiming another child to have been conceived during their pact not to have any children.

“Why are you eating?” Lee asked giving him a soft nudge as he sat down next to him. “You feeling okay?”

“I’m just not hungry,” Will lied with a smile. “I have never been a big eater anyways.” He watched his brother give him a frown with a raised eyebrow.

“You better not be lying to me William,” Lee warned as he placed a hand on Will’s forehead to check his temperature only to remove it with a disappointed look when there was obviously no fever.

“I promise,” Will lied again with another bright smile. He couldn’t let Lee know that he was upset. His brother already had enough to deal with being the head of the Apollo Cabin, he didn’t need to be worrying about Will as well. Will knew that he was already a liability considering he could do nothing useful and was awful at fighting, mainly due to the fact he didn’t believe in fighting others. His mother had always told him that fighting was never to correct answer unless it was in self defense. 

“You going to watch the capture the flag tonight?” Lee asked with a soft smile.

“I don’t know.” Will answered with a small shrug as he just stared at the food on his plate. He was glad that he didn’t have to participate this time, but was unsure as to if he really wanted to watch. It would only make him more upset to see everyone being able to use amazing abilities gifted to them by their godly parents and then there were the Hunters of Artemis that would have amazing skills with bows and arrows.

“I can’t believe they let that shrimp be on their team,” Michael complained plopping down next to Lee as he shot a glare towards the Hermes’ table where the new boy was sitting and laughing with everyone. “If Percy was smart and wanted to win against the Hunters of Artemis, he wouldn’t have let the little runt join the game. I mean, come on! He doesn’t have any training or gifts and he seriously just got here this morning!”

“You’re just bitter you weren’t chosen,” Lee laughed giving Michael a soft punch on the shoulder.

“Damn right I am!” Michael pouted still shooting the new boy a death glare.

“Don’t worry Michael,” Lee chuckled. “The Hunters of Artemis will be here long enough for you to get owned in archery.” He put Michael into a headlock to give him a noggie.

“Shut the fuck up, Lee.” Michael growled as he pushed Lee off him. “I seriously hate you sometimes.”

“Naw,” Lee laughed. “You love me. I’m your favorite brother.”

Will just sighed as the two started to bicker like they always did. He got up and put his plate into the dirty pile before making his way back to the Apollo Cabin. He sat on his bunk in the empty cabin still able to hear the loud chattering from the mess hall. He couldn’t help but agree with Michael about the new boy joining Percy’s capture the flag team, it seemed a bit odd. Maybe the son of Poseidon knew something about the new boy that everyone else was unaware of yet. Maybe the new boy was just as powerful as Percy and Thalia.

Will sighed as he snuggled with his Charmander laying on his side staring at the wall. Again, he couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous of the new boy. He wouldn’t be surprised if the boy developed his gifts early on and they would be nothing short of amazing. A tear slid down his cheek as he buried his head into his Charmander. He hated being to helpless and useless. He wanted to go back to his normal life where he didn’t have to worry about the coming war and how he wouldn’t be of any help during it. He wanted his mother to hold him with her soft smile while telling him everything would be okay. But he couldn’t see his mother. He would only cause problems and that was the last thing he wanted to do. As the announcement was made that the capture the flag was starting, he fell asleep.

*****

Will pulled back his bow, steadied his breathing, focused, then released. The arrow hit with a soft thud yet again on the line between the yellow and red parts of the target. He sighed sadly looking over at the horizon as the sun slowly started rise in the East. Children of Apollo always rose with the sun and since he didn’t want to have to forcibly smile around his siblings at breakfast he had chosen to go to the archery range in a desperate attempt to prove he was a son of Apollo. His blue eyes landed on the circle of arrows around the yellow causing him to frown. The way the arrows were place one would think that he was purposely aiming for the line in order to make a circle, but he knew that wasn’t the case, he just was awful at archery.

“Wow,” a voice said behind him causing him to jump in surprise turning around to see the new boy, whose name he now knew to be Nico. “You’re pretty good. I wish I was good at archery.”

“Thanks,” Will replied as he faked a smile. “But you should see my siblings. They are much better.” Not only was he not in the mood to deal with anyone, he was especially not in the mood to deal with Nico. He still was jealous of the boy for reasons he knew weren’t the boy’s fault, but it still bothered him nonetheless.

“I’m sorry if I interrupted you,” Nico said softly looking at the ground. “I’ll leave if you want me to.” Will noticed that the boy didn’t want to leave and seemed to be holding back something he wanted to say. While Nico was welcomed to Camp Half-Blood, no one had really taken him under their wing to really help train him. It didn’t help that no one knew what his godly parent was otherwise he would be placed in that cabin with his siblings to help him. Despite Will having made himself dislike the boy for stupid reasons, the sad rejected look Nico wore broke his heart. He knew that feeling. It was the look he hid so well under his smile every time his siblings told him that his gifts would come in time. While he had his siblings, Nico had no one.

“You don’t have to leave,” Will finally said with a soft sigh as he went to go retrieve his arrows from the target. “What brings you to the archery range anyways? Shouldn’t you be up at the Mess Hall eating breakfast?”

“I wanted to try it,” Nico admitted with a bright smile. “Would you mind teaching me?” Will stopped removing the arrows to look back at the boy with a confused look.

“I’m known as the worst archer in the Apollo Cabin,” Will said with a forced smile and laugh. “I doubt I will be of any help to you.”

“Maybe it will help both of us.” Nico smiled. “My sister Bianca always says that you can’t really know how to do something until you teach someone else.”

“Your sister?”

“She is a Hunter of Artemis now,” Nico said bitterly as he looked at the horizon. “She left for the quest with the other Hunters.” Will could only imagine how Nico must feel being left alone in a strange place by his sister. The fact that Nico’s sister had joined the Hunters of Artemis must have made it even harder knowing that she really did abandon him.

“I guess I could try,” Will smiled as he pulled the last of the arrows out of the target before going to Nico. “I’m Will by the way.”

“Nico,” the boy replied.

“So what do you know about archery?” Will asked.

“There is a bow and arrows,” Nico replied with a blush of embarrassment causing Will to laugh.

“I guess that is a start.” Will offered as he walked over to the storage shed waving Nico over. The boy was smaller than him so Will knew that the bow he was currently using would be too big for Nico to use. There was also the fact of the matter that it was Nico’s first time, so he would have to pick just the right bow. His eyes sifted through the various sizes and styles until he came upon one that he had used his first time at camp. He smiled as he remembered Lee giving it to him for his first lesson. He grabbed it out of the shed before handing it to Nico. Nico gave him a confused look as he noticed the bow was unstrung.

“First,” Will smiled. “You need to learn how to string a bow.” He grabbed the bow stringer out of the shed and quickly unstrung his bow before handing it to Nico as he grabbed another one. He quickly placed the string over the bow tips explaining the difference between the upper and lower limbs and how the bigger loop on the string is for the upper limb, while the smaller loop is for the lower limb as he placed the smaller loop into the notch. He nodded with a smile as Nico followed his instructions then looked up at him to make sure it was done correctly. He continued on, stopping every so often to make sure that Nico was following along properly. As they were in the process of completing to string the bow, Will looked up to see that Nico was about to go past the notch of the upper limb.

“Nico stop!” Will shouted too late as he watched the string fly off the bow with a snap sending the upper limb flying into Nico’s face. He rushed over as Nico collapsed to the ground holding his hand over the right side of his face. 

“Oh gods, Nico.” Will said as he gently touched Nico’s shoulders. “I am so sorry. We need to get you to my siblings. They will fix you right up.” He gently placed his hand over Nico’s trying to convince the boy to move when he felt a warmth spreading through him to his fingers then to Nico. He watched Nico slowly remove his hand with a confused look as any sign of injury was gone.

“What did you do?” Nico asked as he touched his face trying to see if the wound had disappeared. “It’s completely gone.”

“I-I don’t know,” Will stuttered as he looked down at his own hands. He didn’t know how he had healed Nico, yet alone without a hymn to his father as he had seen all his other siblings do. “I’ve never done that before.”

“That was amazing!” Nico shouted with a huge grin. “I guess Apollo gifted you with healing. I can’t wait until I get a cool gift.”

“How did you know I was a son of Apollo?”

“I kind of guessed it,” Nico smiled. “You look a lot like him.”

“I never met him so I wouldn’t know,” Will sighed as he looked at the sun. “But I guess it makes sense considering I look almost nothing like my mother.”

“I haven’t met my father either,” Nico offered with a small smile. “At least you know who yours is.”

“I’m sure you’ll find out soon enough.” Will smiled as he stood up offering a hand to Nico. “I am sure they are keeping it hidden for a reason.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Nico asked taking Will’s hand.

“It means that you are probably one of the big three’s children,” Will explained as he pulled Nico up. “I mean you were brought here by Thalia, daughter of Zeus, and Percy, son of Poseidon. Not to mention Apollo personally brought you here. I think it is safe to say your father is one of them.”

“That would be awesome!” Nico beamed. “I can’t wait until I find out.” A sound of a horn in the distance blared signaling that all the campers were to meet at the Mess Hall.

“Well,” Will sighed as he released Nico’s hand and stretched. “I guess we should go get some breakfast. Race you there?” 

“You’re on.” Nico smiled as the two of them took off towards the Mess Hall.

*****

Will laughed as Nico missed the target again. There was no denying that Nico was no archer. Although during his training it seemed that Nico had become quite skilled with a sword, something Will could admit he had no talent in. Now that he was a healer, he wanted nothing to do with anything that could bring harm to another, other than archery for fun. Since it was winter session, most of the campers had left to visit their families, something Will still refused to do since he knew he wouldn’t be able to defend against the monsters. It left lots of time for him to help Nico attempt at becoming good at archery which he was soon discovering was easier said than done.

“Shut up Solace,” Nico frowned as he notched another arrow into place. “I will get it eventually.” Will couldn’t help but smile that every time Nico was frustrated with him, he would call him by his last name.

“Not with that form,” Will chuckled as he walked over to correct Nico’s stance for the millionth time. “How many times to I have to tell you to relax your shoulders? Your elbow shouldn’t be pointing towards the sky.”

“It feels funny,” Nico complained as Will pushed his elbow down so it lined up with his other arm.

“Relax,” Will coached as he place his hand over Nico’s on the bow steadying it, his other still on the boy’s elbow, their faces and bodies pressed next to each other. “Breathe, and release.” With Will’s help keeping the bow steady the arrow shot through the air hitting the target in the red.

“I actually hit it!” Nico screamed in excitement as he jumped up and down.

“See,” Will smiled. “I told you all you have to do is relax. Try again.” Nico nodded with a smile as he took a ready stance again. Will couldn’t help but chuckle as he noticed Nico’s elbow still slightly elevated, but figured he would until after to correct him again. He watched Nico relax into the stand, breathe then release. The arrow made a soft thud as it hit in the blue rings, but at least he was hitting the target. 

“I hit it again!” Nico squealed in delight.

“About time,” Will chuckled giving him a pat on the back. “You might be a son of Apollo yet.”

“Shut up Solace,” Nico laughed. “We both know that isn’t possible.” Nico went to notch another arrow, but suddenly lowered his bow as he stared across the field with a blank expression. Will followed his line of sight to see Groove, Annabeth and Percy entering the Big House coming back from their recent quest. Nico dropped his bow and quiver on the snowy ground and darted up after them. Will knew the reason he was so eager to have the three return. They would bring news of his sister. With a sigh, he grabbed the discarded bow and quiver before making his way back to the storage shed. He unstrung the bows and placed everything back in the shed before heading towards the Apollo Cabin. 

Will was almost at the Apollo Cabin when he heard screams from the Mess Hall. Afraid that someone was hurt he sprinted over in time to see four skeletons be sucked into a large crack as Percy gave Nico a baffled look.

“How did you...” Percy started to ask Nico.

“Go away!” Nico yelled. “I hate you! I wish you were dead!”

Will watched Nico run towards the woods and followed after him realizing after some time that Percy wasn’t following.

“Nico wait!” Will shouted as he tried follow Nico through the woods. “It’s me, Will!” He stopped as he came to a small clearing as he looked around, but unable to find Nico anywhere.

“Nico!” Will shouted again, but there was no answer. He knew the woods could be dangerous and didn’t want anything to happen Nico. He could tell that something had upset Nico, and in that state he could easily fall prey to the many monsters that lurked in the shadows. He continued to search until the sun slowly started to set. Begrudgingly, he made his way back to the Apollo Cabin, feeling more lonely than he had ever felt before.

*****

Will wiped the sweat from his face as he sang another hymn of healing to keep an Aphrodite boy from bleeding out. Once the boy’s life was in the clear, he yelled for one of his other siblings to come over and patch him up while he went to the next victim of the battle. He was exhausted, but he had to keep healing the injured. It was the only thing he could do in such a battle. Keep the death toll as low as possible by constantly singing powerful hymns of healing to his father. His other siblings, as they soon found out, weren’t nearly as gifted at healing as he was. He could heal simple injuries without singing a hymn and even when he did sing hymns of healing they would heal wounds to the point scars weren’t even left.

He quickly navigated the battlefield, skillfully avoiding all the monsters as he reached an injured daughter of Hephaestus. Her arm was completely torn off and he could tell that she had lost too much blood, but it wasn’t safe for either of them to remain where they were. He quickly lifted her up as he sang another hymn quickly praying to his father that moving her didn’t end up killing her. His father answered his prayers when the girl groaned as some color returned to her face and the wound had closed. He quickly passed her to another one of his siblings as he turned around, eyes quickly taking in the injured on the battlefield. That was when he saw Nico collapsed to his knees in the mist of everything being protected by a dozen of undead warriors. He knew that there were others that required his help, but he couldn’t keep his eyes off the boy that had disappeared all that time ago.

“Will!” one of his sister screamed. “We need you over here! I can’t get the bleeding to stop!”

Will forced himself to look away from Nico, praying that the boy would be alright as he darted over to his sister whose hands were covered in blood trying to keep a severed artery from bleeding. He placed his hands over his sisters singing another hymn to their father stopping the bleeding completely. 

“Get him out of here.” Will ordered as his sister nodded taking the injured son of Demeter away. He looked over the battlefield realizing that the monsters had retreated, his eyes desperately searching for Nico. His heart stopped when he realized that Percy Jackson was crouched over Nico, giving him nectar. He was about to run over there when Nico sat up, looking tired, but fine. When Will stood up the world spun around him as he collapsed, everything going black.

*****

Will frantically darted through yet again another battle, grabbing an injured son of Athena and pulling him to safety. He quickly looked over the boy’s injuries, nothing major that his sibling couldn’t deal with. Leaving the boy in the hands of his siblings, he took off into the battlefield gracefully dodging any attacks that came his way. He had come to learn that while he wasn’t a fighter, he was amazing at dodging which he used to his advantage. It helped him navigate the battlefield to find the injured and drag them back to safety. Some of his siblings told him that he was better needed behind enemy lines where the injured were brought to him, but he couldn’t just stand around waiting for injured to be brought to him. Too many lives would be lost that way. He couldn’t allow that to happen. He had already lost his brother Lee in the last battle, he especially wasn’t about to lose another one of his siblings. He spotted a daughter of Ares with a spear through her chest. He quickly made his way over to her noticing that she was still conscious, with labored breathing. 

“I have to remove the spear,” Will said softly as he held the shaft firmly by her chest as he broke it. “Don’t move.” He was so concentrated on not injuring the girl further that he didn’t notice a dracaena behind him raising her spear until he saw her shadow. He turned around with wide eyes not able to move in fear that he would injury the girl he was trying to save further. Before the dracaena could pierce him with her spear, there was a loud shout as a sword plunged through her chest and she disintegrated into dust. Will coughed as the dust settled, opening his eyes to look up at the one that had saved him. It was Nico.

“Pay better attention Solace,” Nico said before he darted off disappearing into the battle. Will just sat there staring at where the boy had disappeared to when a loud groan brought to his attention the girl that needed him. He quickly started singing a hymn as he pushed the rest of the spear through the daughter of Ares’ chest. Once she was healed to point of not dying, he picked her up and made his way back to make-shift infirmary tents. He never saw Nico again during the battle and prayed that he was alright.

It wasn’t until after everyone had filtered back to Camp Half-Blood after the battle was won did he see Nico. He wanted so desperately to run over to him and yell at him for disappearing without even a goodbye, but he had injured to attend to. Once he was done saving those close to death he was about to go to the Mess Hall to see Nico only to feel the world start to spin. He gritted his teeth together stubbornly as he tried to concentrate on breathing. He had to talk to Nico.

“You need to rest Will,” one of his siblings said leading him to an empty cot. “Rest, we’ll take care of the rest.” Before Will could even argue, he was asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew, that is not even half of the flashbacks. We still have to cover the end of the Blood of Olympus, between blood of Olympus and Trials of Apollo, and at the end of trials of Apollo. Now I am certain the way I am going to end Trials of Apollo is going to be a hella of a lot darker than Rick Riordan would have ever imagined, but meh. It goes with my story so until he gets there, probably five years from now, I might think of changing it....might. I'm sure you can all see what I have planned for that flashback.
> 
> I also took some liberties in changing things around since they don't go into detail about a lot of the things Nico is doing during the original Percy Jackson series. :)
> 
> Well, Until next time which might not be until next week. Byes~


	12. Memories Part II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late post, I went to Comic Con last weekend. Then had to help my sister get ready for college. My little sis all grown up and going away to school. Then i started writing a little bit of a different chapter. lol I just could not get it out of my head. So I was just like 'fuck it' and wrote it. 
> 
> Warnings: This will spoil the hidden oracle for you if you have yet to read it. It does get a little graphic. Also you might cry.

**_Flashback continued_ **

Will smiled as Nico followed him around the infirmary helping him with various tasks. He had been so worried when Nico had shown up obviously exhausted during a recon mission with Cecil and Lou Ellen. Coach Hedge had warned Will that he would probably need to make Nico his number one priority if they didn’t want the son of Hades to fade away to nothing. He was angry at Nico for even thinking of shadow traveling again and ordered him not to use his powers again until further notice. After an intense arguing match, Will had won with Nico’s confirmation that he wouldn’t use his powers. After the war with Gaea had ended, he further ordered Nico to stay in the infirmary for three days. It was much to Will’s surprise that Nico didn’t seem to mind and willingly came which was why the son of Hades was currently following him around. 

Once he had done his rounds, he pulled Nico into the office inspecting the boy’s cold hands. He could still feel the darkness that resided inside, while it was disappearing, it was happening at an incredibly slow rate. He had thought that keeping Nico occupied with other things would help him not only not use his powers, but recover faster. Unfortunately, it had not. Someone fading into nothingness was not something he had ever come across during his training and when he tried to consult with his father there was no reply. It surprised him when Hades came to him last night to tell him about what happened to those that have faded. Hades had showed him the wall next to the Elysian Fields were the names of those that had faded and been forgotten were etched into the stone. Will had already lost Nico during the past few years and now that he had his friend back, there was no way he was going to let him fade away and be forgotten. 

“Will,” Nico said softly breaking Will’s train of thought. “Are you okay?” Will looked into those soft amber eyes that were filled with worry. He couldn’t understand why Nico was worried about him when it was more than obvious that he should be worried about himself. He wasn’t the one about to fade into nothingness. 

“Yeah,” Will sighed as he gave Nico’s hands a soft squeeze. “It’s just the darkness, it is taking longer than I expected to disappear. Without my father’s advise, I fear I am at a loss as to how to proceed. I might have to keep you here longer than the three days.”

“It’s okay Will,” Nico smiled. “You’ll figure something out. I won’t be needing my powers...”

“But what if something happens?!” Will blurted out as he closed his eyes unable to look at Nico. “What if you need to use your powers and start to fade away? What if I am unable to get to you in time? You already disappeared for all that time without even saying goodbye! I don’t want to completely forget you too!”

“Will,” Nico said. “What are you talking about?”

“I talked to your father,” Will admitted with a heavy sigh. “He came to me last night and told me what happens to those who fade. They are completely forgotten by everyone except those of the Underworld. I won’t let that happen to you Nico. So until this darkness leaves you, I am not letting you out of my sight.”

“Will,” Nico frowned. “I don’t need a babysitter. I feel fine and I already promised I wouldn’t use my powers.”

“It doesn’t matter Nico,” Will stated crossing his arms over his chest. “Doctor’s orders.”

“Seriously Solace?” Nico replied, his frown deepening as he crossed his arms across his chest as well. “You planning on sleeping in the Hades Cabin as well?”

“If that is what it takes,” Will confirmed with a grin. “Like I said, I am not letting you out of my sight until that darkness goes away.”

“I doubt Chiron would go for that,”

“I am the top healer at camp,” Will smirked. “I’m sure I can convince Chiron that it is for the best. Can’t let you fade away in the middle of the night because I wasn’t keeping an eye on you. I’m sure your father would be on my side.”

“Don’t bring my father into this.”

“Looks like I win,” Will grins. “I’ll be sleeping in the Hades Cabin tonight.”

“W-what?” Nico stuttered a small blush spreading across his cheeks. “I never agreed to anything!”

“Too late,” Will laughed taking Nico’s hand and dragging him out of the office. “Time to get Chiron’s blessing then we will head to your cabin.”

*****

Will let out a sigh as he turned off the water for the shower and got himself changed. When he got to the door that separated the bathroom from the rest of the cabin, he paused. Fear crept slowly through him as he wondered if Nico was still sitting on his bed on the other side. He knew that Nico had decided to stay at Camp Half-Blood permanently, but he feared that maybe he overstepped his boundaries by requesting to stay in the Hades Cabin. Then the was the fact of the lingering darkness that was threatening to consume Nico. He didn’t know when Nico had become such an important person in his life, but now Nico’s safety was all that mattered. With another sigh, he pushed the door open to find Nico on his bed with his head buried in his hands obviously trying to conceal a blush. He smiled as he walked over to crouch in front of the boy.

“You didn’t fade while I was in the shower,” Will said trying to pull Nico’s hands away from his face. “I will take that as a good sign, but it seems that the darkness is stronger in the dark.”

“Great words of wisdom, Solace.” Nico scoffed with the roll of his eyes. “Darkness is stronger in the dark.” 

“Shut up,” Will pouted as he finally pulled Nico’s hands away from his face to examine them further. While the darkness that remained wasn’t increasing, it didn’t seem to be disappearing either. He took a deep breath as he closed his eyes before singing a hymn to his father causing his hands to glow softly and slowly push back some of the darkness. Even with Apollo missing it seemed that his gift of healing was still present which was something he was beyond thankful for. As the hymn ended he opened his eyes to look into Nico’s, a smile forming upon his lips.

“How are you feeling?”

“I told you I have been feeling fine,” Nico said turning away with a blush.

“I know,” Will smiled. “I am just double checking. Just promise me you’ll tell me if that changes?”

“I will,” Nico answered softly. Will just continued to smile as he got up and went to the bunk adjacent to Nico’s.

“Night Nico,” Will whispered as he snuggled into the bed, pulling out his Charmander that he still went to bed with. Normally he was a bit self-conscious about other seeing him with it, but with Nico, he didn’t care.

“Night Will,” Nico answered back as the green torches that lit the room dimmed sensing that it was now time to sleep. However, sleep eluded Will as he just stared across the small space that separated their beds. Now in the darkness of the Hades Cabin, he worried that Nico might actually fade away. That and he wasn’t holding the boy’s hand like he had been while they were sleeping in the infirmary. To his surprise, Nico hadn’t been completely against the gesture especially after he had awaken from a nightmare the first night in the infirmary. When Will would ask him about it, he would just say his usual ‘I’m fine,’ and be done with the conversation. He knew he was no psychiatrist since he focused more of healing bodily injuries than ones of the mind, but even he knew that Nico couldn’t always keep what happened to him bottled up. 

It was as if Will’s thoughts had summoned Nico’s nightmares for now the boy was screaming in his sleep. Without a second thought, Will went over to Nico, gently took his hand and started humming a random tune as he sat on the edge of the bed. Normally Nico would just fall back asleep so it was surprising when he sat up wide awake with large fearful eyes breathing heavily.

“It’s okay Nico,” Will whispered softly bringing his free hand to cup Nico’s face, their eyes locking. “It was only a nightmare. Take deep breaths. Focus on me.” Nico nodded slowly as he closed his eyes taking deep breaths until his breathing was normal.

“There you go,” Will smiled as he placed his other hand on the other side of Nico’s face. “Did you want to talk about it now?” Nico just looked at him, eyes full of fear and pain before shaking his head.

“Okay,” Will sighed softly. “In time.” He went to go back to his bed, but a cool hand grabbed his preventing him from leaving.

“Please,” Nico said so softly it was barely a whisper. “Don’t go.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Will smiled softly taking Nico’s hand between his own sitting back on the edge of the bed. “Did you want me hold your hand until you fall asleep?” Nico nodded once as he bit his lower lip as his body started to tremble.

“Hey, hey,” Will said softly as he placed a hand on Nico’s shoulder. “It’s okay. There is no reason to be afraid. I’m here.” All of the sudden Nico hugged Will tightly sobbing into his chest. Will sat there unmoving for a few moments before he let out a soft sigh and wrapped his arms around Nico humming softly the tune his mother used to sing to him.

“I’m sorry,” Nico whispered after he had calmed down still hugging Will.

“No need to apologize,” Will answered gently stroking the untamed dark locks of Nico’s hair. “I will always be here for you when you need me, I promise.”

“You can’t promise that.”

“What?”

“You can’t promise you’ll always be there for me,” Nico sobbed. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“Where is this coming from?” Will asked attempting to wipe the tears from Nico’s eyes, but they seemed to be endless.

“You died in my nightmare,” Nico admitted sadly, fresh tears streaming down his cheeks.

“But I’m not dead,” Will smiled as he took Nico’s hand placing it over his heart. “See. I am alive. It was just a nightmare.”

“But my nightmares come true,” Nico sobbed as he pulled his hand away. “I had similar nightmares before...”

“Nico,” Will said softly as he pull Nico into another hug. “I’m not going anywhere. Who else is going to keep you from using your Underworld-ly powers until you can handle them again?” He felt a soft vibration as Nico chuckled into his chest.

“Let’s get some sleep,” Will yawned not realizing how tired he actually was. Instead of going back to his bed, he simply collapsed onto Nico’s, taking him with him and holding him closer. He was expecting some kind of protest from Nico and was surprised when he only snuggled closer. Holding Nico in his arms felt so right. He took a deep breath smelling pomegranates and earth that was Nico. A smile slowly tugged at his lips as he contently fell asleep with Nico in his arms.

*****

Will let out a scream of pain as an enemy arrow pierced through his right thigh. He would have collapsed if strong arms hadn’t caught him. The poison from the arrow was already flowing into his body, without a second thought he broke the arrow sliding the rest through hissing in pain.

“Will!” Nico shouted as Will leaned heavily against him. Will felt dizzy and warm knowing the poison was already taking effect. He collapsed to his knees pulling Nico down with him as he looked over Camp Half-Blood that was now a battlefield yet again. There were so many that needed his help, but he had lost focus when he saw Nico’s sword fall from his transparent hands. Instead of avoiding the battle he rushed into it to help Nico, the thought of losing him overriding his healer instincts to not to fight. Now he was injured and couldn’t help anyone, but it didn’t upset him as much as he thought it would knowing that Nico was safe next to him.

“You’re burning up,” Nico sighed as he placed a cool hand on Will’s forehead. “What were you thinking running in there?” Will felt a piece of ambrosia slip past his lips, the poison and fever already starting to leave his body.

“No more Underworld-ly powers,” Will ordered weakly as he grabbed hold of Nico’s flickering hand. “Doctor’s orders.” His eyes looked over the battle that was still taking place, his father summoning a powerful arrow of light to finally defeat Python once again despite being bond to a mortal form. However, using his bow at full strength in a mortal form had taken its toll as Will watched him collapse to his hands and knees before the three Roman emperors that had become immortal. No one seemed to notice the trouble that Apollo was in for everyone was engaged in their own battle. Will felt Nico take a deep breath before turning his face away from the battle to look into his eyes. He was afraid of the mixture of emotions he saw in the those amber eyes.

“I’m sorry, Will.” Nico said softly as he pulled Will into a gentle kiss. “I love you.” Before Will could react to what Nico was about to do, he had already shadow traveled away. Blue eyes looked back to where his father was in front of the emperors as Nico appeared next to him. The temperature dropped to below freezing throughout the camp effectively stopping the fighting as all eyes turned towards the son of Hades. The sun faded away, darkness slowly engulfing everything. The earth turned black where it was exposed, plants and trees started to wither away. Fires turned to ice, even the hearth of Hestia seemed to start to freeze over.

Will started to shiver not because of the cold, but with the overwhelming feeling of fear knowing what was about to come next yet unable to move to stop it. While Nico kept his darkest secrets hidden from everyone, minus Renya and Coach Hedge on accident, he had shared them with Will. He knew about the terrible things Nico had experienced when his sister died, how alone he felt when everyone discovered he was a son of Hades, his time in Tartarus, being captured by the giants, wasting away in the jar, his time on the Argo II, his encounter with Eros/Cupid, everything. Now all of that could be felt by everyone in Camp Half-Blood, both demigod and monster alike. 

“Return to the Underworld where you belong,” Nico bellowed, his voice coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. “You are already dead. A ghost, a memory not worth remembering.” He took a step closer to the three Roman Emperors of old, the earth shook as large fissures surrounded Nico and the emperors. 

“I am Nero!” Nero shouted standing straight while his two companions cowered before the son of Hades. “I have defeated death and became a god! The gods can’t hurt me, what makes you think that you can, little demigod?” 

“Don’t underestimate the powers of the Underworld,” Nico warned, streams of darkness emitted from him like smoke, eyes burning like that of his father’s. He took another step forward as Nero’s companion emperors screamed in agony clutching their heads, blood dripping from their eyes, nose and ears. Faces starting to melt away into nothingness. “My father Hades doesn’t approve of those who escape punishment.”

“And yet I am still here,” Nero bragged holding his arms out as if already victorious. “I have escaped his clutches for a long time. You have no power over me son of Pluto. Maybe my weak-minded companions, but not me. I am a god!”

“No,” Nico stated as he took one last step forward before raising his arms, more fissures opened. “You are nothing.” Nero’s once proud smirk disappeared when he finally realized his body starting to disappear.

“No!” Nero shouted in anguish slowly disappearing into the earth. “I am Nero! I am a god! I can not die!”

“You can not die if you are already dead,” Nico replied flatly. “You can only fade into nothingness. Begone!” With that the three emperors disappeared into the earth, their screams still lingering in the silence. The sun returned banishing the darkness bringing life back to the plants and melting the ice.

The trance that had kept Will from moving broke as he shouted Nico’s name running to the disappearing figure collapsing to the ground. His heart stopped, yet beat too fast. He couldn’t breath, but his breaths were fast. The world seemed to stop, yet it was still spinning. His legs carried him to Nico, but gave out the moment he reached him. He tried to touch Nico’s face only to have his hands go right through to the ground, darkness wrapping around Nico’s lifeless disappearing body.

“No don’t go!” Will shouted before he started sobbing uncontrollably somehow managing to pull the disappearing Nico into his arms. “Why did you have to do that? Why? Please don’t leave me, Nico.” He felt his heart breaking as he sang hymn after hymn in a desperate attempt to bring the one he loved back, but to no avail. The last thing he remembered before he blacked out was screaming in pain as it felt like his soul was torn in half.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are the rest of the flashbacks. Next chapter will be back to Will after he remembered all of this....yeah, that is going to be a little raw. 
> 
> Until next time. Byes~


	13. Underworld

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, another chapter that was supposed to be one, that became two....yeah... oh well.
> 
> Please excuse any errors, mainly towards the end....I was kind of falling asleep.
> 
> i hope you enjoy.

Will clutched his head as the memories flooded back to him like a dam that had just broken. It was too much. His head felt like it was about to split in half, but worse than the pain in his head was the pain in his heart. How could he forget the one he loved? How could he not remember Nico after meeting him again in the Ghost King’s Castle? Why didn’t Hazel just tell him everything? How could he have forgotten a second time? So many questions with no answers.

“Nico,” Will sobbed as he buried his face in his hands. Nico had already suffered so much. Why did the Fates feel he needed to suffer more? To make matters worse, Will was part of the reason for Nico’s suffering. He had forgotten him. Failed him to save him not once, but twice. How was he supposed to save him now if he had already failed before? The ring tightened around his finger breaking him from his dark thoughts. He stared at the ring that Nico held most dear, a gift from his deceased sister. The skulls red eyes flickered twice before the entire ring turned to point down towards the floor. Confused by the action of the ring, he moved his hand around soon realizing that no matter how his hand was positioned, the skull remained pointing at the floor.

“The Underworld?” Will whispered staring blankly at the floor. It made sense that Nico’s soul would return to the Underworld after death, but Nico hadn’t really died, he had faded. Faded souls didn’t go anywhere, they were lost. Then again, Nico had supposedly faded away once only to reappear trapped in the castle. Could it be possible that Nico hadn’t completely faded yet? Aphrodite had said that he still had time to save the one he loved. The skull ring tightened around his finger again as if to confirm that Nico hadn’t completely faded yet.

“To the Underworld,” Will said with his eyes narrowing in determination. He wasn’t going to fail Nico again. He was going to save the one he loved no matter what the cost. He clenched his fists as he stood up, marched out of the bathroom and grabbed the satchel that was left next to the cot he was sleeping on. After grabbing some more medical supplies, he left the infirmary heading towards the armory. If he was going to the Underworld, he needed to ready for anything meaning he was going to need a bow to defend himself, that was of course if he could hit his target, but it was better than nothing. 

As he stormed to the armory, he knew everything at camp had come to halt as everyone’s eyes turned in his direction, but he ignored it. No one else mattered right now. The only one that mattered was Nico. A hand on his shoulder forced him to turn around with a glare, annoyed that someone dared to distract him from saving Nico. His heated glare softened slightly when he realized it was Cecil and Lou Ellen.

“You’re going on a quest,” Lou stated with hands on her hips. “And we are coming with you.”

“I can’t let you,” Will frowned as he turned around returning to his task of going to the armory. “It’s in the Underworld.”

“You know that my dad takes souls to the Underworld right?” Cecil smirked. “And Lou Ellen’s mom is kind of part of the Underworld. If anyone shouldn’t be going to the Underworld, it would be a son of Apollo. You’d be too bright.”

“Shut up Cecil,” Will snapped. “I don’t have much time to save him. Leave me alone.”

“Him?” Lou asked as she grabbed Will’s arm bringing him to another stop. “Will, you can’t save souls that have already crossed to the Underworld.”

“Don’t care,” Will growled as he shook her hand off of his arm.

“What has gotten into you?” Lou demanded attempting to pull Will to a stop again, but failing this time. “You came back crying after you defeated the monst....”

“He isn’t a monster!” Will shouted slamming the doors to the armory open. “His name is Nico and he faded away saving everyone. Apollo wasn’t the one that defeated Nero, it was Nico. Renya and Coach Hedge with a group of pegasi didn’t bring the Athena Parthenos back alone. Nico was the one that brought it most of the way with his shadow traveling nearly fading away at that time because of it. And Hades coming to save the day when we almost lost the war against Kronos, that wasn’t because of a whim, it was because his son Nico convinced him to. So tell me Lou, is he still a monster?”

“What are you talking about?” Cecil chimed in for Lou, who was just staring blankly at Will. “If this Nico did so many important things, then why is this the first we are hearing about him?”

“Because that is what happens when someone fades,” Will frowned turning away from his friends. “Everyone forgets.”

“But you didn’t forget,” Lou said softly following Will to the archery section. 

“I did,” Will whispered looking down at the skull ring sadly. He shook his head stubbornly fighting off the tears. He wasn’t going to cry. He was done with crying. He was going to save Nico and that was final. His blue eyes started to scan the various bows the armory had to offer, but none called out to him.

“Will,” Lou said placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. “Let us help you. You had to go alone to the castle, but you don’t have to go alone to the Underworld.” Will looked down into his friend’s pleading green eyes feeling some of his anger melt away. He was lucky to have such good friends that were still willing to help him even after he was being a jerk.

“Thank guys,” Will smiled softly. “I’m sorry for being a jerk earlier.”

“It’s cool,” Cecil laughed as he wrapped an arm around both Will and Lou. “Never seen you so worked up about something so it must be important. But back to the task at hand, let’s gear up and go to the Underworld to save this Nico.”

“Are you really going to take a bow?” Lou Ellen asked as Will continued to look over the bows.

“Yes,” Will answered with a sigh. “I am still awful at archery, but something is telling me that I am going to need get better.”

“Even if you still suck,” Cecil chuckled giving Will a soft punch to the shoulder. “Which you probably do, we got your back.”

“Shut up, Cecil.” Will laughed as he went to grab a random bow that would just have to do. As he went to grab it a bright light filled the armory causing him to cover his eyes. When the light faded, the bow before him was that of his fathers. He looked around for his father, but he was nowhere to be found. The only item that suggested his father had been there was the glowing gold bow before him.

“Looks like your father believes in you,” Lou Ellen smiled as she placed he daggers she had been inspecting on her belt. Will smiled as he took the familiar bow sending a silent ‘thank you’ to his father. The bow was warm in his hand, humming with his father’s power. The power of the sun was going to the Underworld.

“So,” Lou Ellen said breaking the silence. “How exactly are we getting to the Underworld?”

“I got that covered,” Cecil grinned like a cat that got the canary. “Son of Hermes at your service.” He took a bow before pulling a small snow globe from his pocket earning a confused look from Will and Lou Ellen.

“A snow globe?” Lou Ellen asked with her hands on her hips and a raised eyebrow. “How is that supposed to get us to the Underworld.”

“God of travel can go anywhere,” Cecil smirked giving the empty snow globe a shake. “Even to the Underworld.” Hades’ palace appeared in the snow globe before Cecil threw it at a wall. Instead of shattering, a strange gray looking portal appeared where the snow globe should have shattered. Cecil offered a hand to each of his friends. “You might want to hold on tightly.” he warned before dragging them into the portal.

To say traveling by snow globe was like shadow travel would be a lie. Both made Will nauseous, but while shadow traveling felt like being in an overpowered race car that could lose control at any second, snow globe travel felt like being at warp speed upon the Enterprise. Needless to say, he was now on the steps of Hades’ palace throwing up over the side. Someone patted him on the back with a soft laugh.

“It is always hard the first time,” Cecil chuckled as he helped Will up.

“No wonder you can get anywhere unseen.” Lou Ellen smiled completely unaffected by the trip. “So much for your secret. I am sure someone saw that.”

“Don’t worry,” Cecil grinned as he tossed the snow globe up and down carelessly. “Got plenty more tricks up my sleeve. This is just a more convenient trick.” Will straightened himself as he looked up at Hades’ palace for the first time. Despite traveling the world with Nico through shadow travel (much to Chiron’s annoyance), this was the one place he had refused to take him. Now standing before the dark palace, he could understand why. Not exactly the nicest place for a date. Nico. He shook his head as he forced himself to focus. He wasn’t here to reminisce, he had a quest to complete. 

“So now what?” Lou Ellen asked as she turned in a circle taking in the Underworld. “This place is huge, where do we even start?” Will looked down at the skull ring that was now sitting correctly on his finger staring up at him.

“Show me where Nico is,” Will said softly hoping it would listen. He let out a breath he hadn’t known he had been holding when the red jeweled eyes glowed softly as the skull turned to the right.

“The ring points to Tartarus,” Persephone said as she gracefully descended the stairs. “Are you sure you still wish to proceed, Will Solace?”

“Yes,” Will stated without a second thought. No monster, titan or god was going to keep him from saving Nico. He watched the pale lips of the Queen of the Underworld turn to a small smile before disappearing behind the emotionless mask again.

“Then you will be needing this,” Persephone said as she closed the rest of the gap. She took Will’s hand and placed a single pomegranate seed in it. Will frowned slightly, not liking where this was probably going. He remembered Nico talking about using the pomegranate seeds from Persephone’s garden to keep himself alive while in that jar.

“You seem to know what this is for,” Persephone continued, her earth brown eyes meeting blue. “But it alone will not be able to keep Nico from completely fading. That burden rests upon you. It will, however lessen the burden.” Will gave her a confused look remembering Nico telling him that the Queen of the Underworld was not fond of him, yet here she was assisting to save him. 

“Why are you helping?” Will asked before he could stop himself. He knew that when the Queen of the Underworld offered to help you didn’t ask questions, but he couldn’t help asking.

“While it may seem I dislike my step children,” Persephone answered with a face void of emotion. “I assure you that is not the case and Nico has become by far my favorite. Do you really think he would have been able to take my pomegranates without my permission?”

“Nico thinks you hate him,” Will said with a frown.

“It is for the better,” Persephone replied as she turned her head to the right to look off into the distance. “Last time I became too attached to one of my step children, it didn’t end well. Let us just say spring didn’t come that year.” She turned her attention back to Will, eyes seeming to look right into his soul.

“I also bring a warning.” she continued. “The light of Apollo shines bright in you. Creatures and spirits alike felt it the moment you arrived. The reason you remain safe is because you are on palace grounds, but the moment you leave you will be unprotected. Take care not to let that light go out while you are here, otherwise you will face a fate worse than death.”

“Thank you, Lady Persephone.” Will said with a small bow.

“There is no need to thank me, Will Solace.” Persephone said as she closed Will’s hand around the pomegranate seed. “It is I that should be thanking you.” Will just stared back at the goddess with another confused look causing her to smile softly. Her smile reminded Will of the first day of spring, bright and welcoming.

“You amuse me, Will Solace.” she smiled. “Have a safe journey through the Underworld and trust in your friends. You have chosen them wisely.” As the gods tend to do, she disappeared with the final word leaving the demigods still staring at the spot she once was. 

“Well that was interesting,” Cecil laughed breaking the silence putting his snow globe away into his pocket. “While my dad may be the god of travel, I doubt we can snow globe it to Tartarus. So I guess we are walking.” Will turned around to look at his two friends willing to follow him into Tartarus without a care for their own lives.

“I can’t ask you guys to go to Tartarus.” Will sighed looking away. “Thank you for coming with me to the Underworld, but...”

“Don’t say you are going alone, Will.” Lou Ellen interjected causing him to look up into fierce green eyes. “We’re all in this together and if I have to start singing that High School Musical song off key to get you to agree then I will.”

“Please don’t,” Will chuckled.

“Then it is settled,” Lou Ellen smirked taking Will’s hand in one of hers and Cecil’s in the other. “I guess we are off to Tartarus.” Will squeezed his friend’s hand with a nod as they set off through the Underworld to Tartarus.

*****

Will hissed in pain, the rocks of the Underworld scrapped his knees as he slid between two Keres’ poisonous claws. They crashed into each other falling to the ground in a tangle of limbs and feathers unmoving. He slowly got up unable hide a wince, pain shooting through his legs as Lou Ellen and Cecil rushed over to him. True to Persephone’s words, the creatures and spirits of the Underworld had relentlessly attacked them with their focus on Will. All chimed a similar phrase of wanting to taste the sun again or to devour such a delicious light.

“Will, are you okay?” Lou Ellen asked as she rushed to his side.

“I am fine,” Will replied as he let out a tired sigh. He didn’t know how they were going to make it to Tartarus when they couldn’t even take a couple of steps without running into a monster or spirit trying to kill them. While Lou Ellen’s manipulation of the Mist had given them some cover, it didn’t last long. Will had a feeling that he was the cause of it considering all the monsters had rushed directly for him. Cecil had been right when he said a son of Apollo shouldn’t be in the Underworld.

“I wish that weird ring of yours would tell us how much farther we had to go.” Cecil complained kicking a random rock in frustration. “It feels like we have been walking for hours and not getting anywhere.”

“It’s my fault,” Will sighed. “You said it yourself before we even came here and Lady Persephone confirmed it when we arrived. A son of Apollo is too bright for the Underworld.”

“It’s okay Will,” Lou Ellen smiled placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. “While you may not belong here, you have two that are connected to the Underworld helping you. We may not be children of Hades like Nico and Hazel, but I think we are managing just fine.”

“You know it is funny,” Cecil chuckled as he plopped himself down on a large rock to take a break. “The more time we spend in the Underworld, the more I remember about Nico.”

“Same,” Lou Ellen commented giving Will’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. “Don’t worry, we will get him back.” Will gave his friends a grateful smile.

“Thanks guys,” Will smiled. “I don’t know what I would do without you.”

“You probably would have been eaten,” Cecil joked with a laugh. A soft hiss from behind them reminded them that they should move away from the semiconscious Keres and continue their journey to Tartarus.

“I guess that is our sign to go,” Lou Ellen stated as her green eyes looked around for any more enemies. “I will try to use the Mist again to conceal us for a while, but we all know that won’t last long.”

“You should save your energy,” Will suggested as he looked down at the ring to confirm the right direction before heading off with his friends following behind him. “This is the easier part of our quest.” While everyone knew about Tartarus, few actually have experienced it and survived. Will had never physically been there, but it had felt like it after he had Clovis bind his and Nico’s dreams together. It had happened after Nico had gone into a coma like state when Python tried to send Apollo to Tartarus. Of course Nico had prevented that from happening almost getting dragged back into Tartarus which only triggered horrible memories to come back. Will had to go into Nico’s dreams and convince him that it was only a dream. However, in doing so, he had also experienced everything that Nico had been through as if he had been through it himself. 

An ear piecing scream that could rival his whistle shook him out of his thoughts as he dropped to his knees covering his ears. He squinted through his half closed eyes trying to make out what was approaching, but all he could see was a huge mass of blurred figures. Lou Ellen stepped in front of him, her lips moving as she chanted something he couldn’t hear through the screams. Two strange floating orbs of fires appeared beside them, the screams starting to die down. Will shook his head as he attempted to get the echoing of the screams to stop. When it finally died down to a sound similar to a whisper, he stood back up to see they were surrounded by spirits of the Underworld. The only thing keeping them safe from said spirits, were the floating orbs of fire that bounced around in a circle with Lou Ellen at its center.

“We should probably move forward,” Lou Ellen suggested. “I can only summon the Lampades for a short time. They are supposed to take souls to Elysium, not keep all these random spirits away. That is unless you want us to die and they just take us there right now.” Will nodded as he helped Cecil up as they moved slowly forward through the field of endless spirits. With the amount of endless, faceless spirits, he knew that they must be in the Fields of Asphodel.

“The light,” the spirits moaned as they reached their wisps of arms out towards Will. “Take us back to the light.” Will shivered as he moved closer to Lou Ellen as they continued their way through the Fields of Asphodel with the protection of the Lampades. No matter how much the spirits reached out in attempt to get them, the orbs of fire prevented it. Will looked ahead of them seeing no end in sight through the mass of spirits while the Lampades seemed to be flickering away. 

“We need to hurry,” Lou Ellen panted as a bead of sweat ran down her brow. “The Lampades say they have to return to their duties soon.”

“I guess it is time to run like a rabbit.” Cecil smirked pulling a rabbit headband out of his bag before placing them on his head. Will couldn’t help but think how ridiculous his friend looked with the white fluffy bunny ears on his head that reminded him of ones the kids would wear during Easter. Cecil just gave him a smile as he grabbed Lou Ellen’s and Will’s hand.

“You might want to hold on tight.” Cecil warned. “And whatever you do, don’t let go.” Will had a feeling he wasn’t going to like what was going to happen next, but gave his friend a nod of approval nonetheless. He had thought he hated snow globe travel, but whatever Cecil was using now was far worse. It felt like his arm was being ripped from its socket while the rest of his body flopped in the wind behind his friend. Everything was a blur around them, even Lou Ellen seemed to blur in with the rest of the world. The world came to a sudden stop as the three of them crashed into each other ending in a pile of tangled limbs. Will groaned as he attempted to untangle himself from his two friends when something cold grabbed his arm. He screamed in pain as it felt like his entire body was on fire.

“The light is so warm,” a voice said as his vision started to blur. “Give me the light.”

“Begone spirit,” boomed another voice as the cold touch was removed from his arm. Will vaguely heard Lou Ellen’s worried voice somewhere as his vision began to darken. He felt like he was a rock sinking to the bottom of a lake as the light disappeared and he fell completely into darkness.

*****

Will heard voices talking as he woke, but couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. His head felt like it had been slammed against a wall or hit with a shovel, but he didn’t remember any of that happening. He remembered a cold touch and his body feeling like it was on fire before he blacked out. The only thing that made sense was that a spirit had probably got ahold of him trying to take his ‘light’. He groaned as he sat up, his body felt heavy.

“You should rest some more, Will Solace.” an unfamiliar voice said causing him to look up into the hard golden eyes of Thanatos. “You will need all your strength for your journey through Tartarus.”

“Did you save us?” Will asked as he looked at the sleeping forms of his friends a few feet away briefly wondering whose voices he had heard earlier. 

“Yes,” Thanatos answered his dark wings shimmering between blue, black and purple. “Lord Hades has kept your name off my list, thus it was not your time to die.”

“Thank you,” Will said with a small smile.

“Do not thank me,” Thanatos said as he turned towards the dark pit behind him. “You may meet a fate worse than death if you continue your quest. Lady Persephone has already warned you of this.” He turned back to Will. “Do you still wish to continue?”

“Yes,” Will answered with a frown. He was tired of people asking if he wanted to save Nico. Thanatos continued to look at him with his piercing golden eyes as if looking for something, but not finding it. Will held his stare with a frown not liking the way the god of death was looking at him.

“It seems you are determined to save Lord Hades’ son,” Thanatos chuckled darkly breaking the silence. “A word of advise for those that fade and avoid my grasp. The reason why I can not claim them isn’t just because their souls go to Tartarus, but because the darkness that consumes them is that of Chaos itself. Chaos is the one that claims those souls. It is why they are forgotten.”

“I will have to fight Chaos?” Will asked in shock.

“I do not know,” Thanatos admitted as his gaze turned to the sleeping Lou Ellen and Cecil. “Just know that once you enter into Tartarus, the gods will be unable to help you. Even your father’s bow will be weakened in power.”

“No matter what you say I am still going to save Nico.” Will protested stubbornly with crossed arms. “Or I will die trying.” Thanatos just chuckled coldly sending chills up and down Will’s spine.

“Die?” Thanatos asked with an amused expression. “Your name might simply not be on my list for you are meant to fade away back into Chaos. That is not death, Will Solace. Even my sisters’ painful death would be more merciful.”

“Right...” Will groaned not quite understanding what the god of death was talking about. Fading and dying seemed similar enough with one being slightly worse than the other, but they both ended the same, not being alive. Thanatos turned back to the dark pit, dark hair and feathers rustling in an invisible wind of the Underworld. 

“You should wake your friends,” Thanatos suggested. “Those that have faded have sensed your light.” With the mighty flap of his wings, Thanatos shot into the air and disappeared into the mist of the Underworld.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so originally Will was supposed to do all this by himself, but I figured dragging Cecil and Lou Ellen along would help. It is a little too convenient that Cecil is a son of Hermes and Lou Ellen is a daughter of Hecate.
> 
> Also, as stated before that only those connected to Underworld would remember those faded. That would include Hecate and Hermes, but I would like to think that Hades convinced them to remain silent about Nico being the Ghost King. It is also why after they entered the Underworld that Lou Ellen and Cecil would start getting some of the memories back.
> 
> One thing that I really dislike about Rick Riordan's world is how he portrayed Persephone. She is one of my favorite goddesses and I don't believe she would be as bitter and awful as he made her out to be. That is more of a Hera thing in my opinion, which to be honest she has all the right to be that way with the way Zeus is. 
> 
> Please excuse the Star Trek reference, I just saw the new movie....again. lol
> 
> The snow globe travel is from Rise of the Guardians, haha I don't know why, but it makes sense. The rabbit ears are kind of Legend of Zelda's fault, but one of Hermes' animals is a rabbit sooo yeah. I would like to think that children of Hermes would have stupid little knickknacks to get into places they aren't supposed to. There is also a reason why Cecil didn't use the rabbit ears right off the bat, but that will be explained later. 
> 
> The Lampades were said to be nymphs that carried the torches for Hecate and were rumored to take souls to the Elysian Fields so I ran with that. I made there only be two since Hecate always had two torches.
> 
> Thanatos' sisters he mentions are the Keres. They are said to be his sisters of painful death, while he is one of gentle death.


	14. Tartarus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo sorry for the late update. I have been pretty busy with my sister moving into the dorms for college and with work. Also I kind of had a little writer's block, but it was more like I could picture what I wanted to happen, but couldn't put it into words....
> 
> So this story is going to be a lot longer than I previously expected. This chapter and the last chapter were supposed to be one, but now I am thinking that it is going to turn into four.
> 
> Anyways, enjoy.

“Go away,” Cecil complained rolling away from Will and Lou Ellen. “I’m too tired to get up.”

“We have a quest to complete,” Lou Ellen said with a sigh as she followed the rolling Cecil. Will was just thankful that he was rolling away from the giant hole known at Tartarus, although they would be going there shortly. 

“Rabbits run too fast,” Cecil groaned as Lou Ellen finally caught him and pulled him up into a sitting position. He rubbed his eyes tiredly as he let out a yawn. “Those ears are a double-edged sword. You get wherever you want quickly, but it drains you as if you had run that distance without the help of magic. I feel like I ran across the country or something. Just how far is Tartarus from the Fields of Asphodel?” Will walked over to his friends and kneeled down as he took Cecil’s hand. He sung a quick hymn that helped take away weariness. Normally his siblings would use it during battles to assist others that were fighting. It was a simple hymn and didn’t take much energy to use which he was thankful for. He was going to need his strength to save Nico as Persephone had already warned.

“Feel better?” Will asked after he finished the hymn.

“I feel amazing!” Cecil shouted in delight as he jumped to his feet. “Man, I didn’t know you could do that. I should bring you with me on my heists!”

“I’m not going to assist you in stealing Chiron’s things,” Will answered with a frown. The last thing he wanted to do was anger Chiron because then he wouldn’t be able to remain in the Hades Cabin with Nico. Chiron had turned a blind eye to him staying there even after Nico was no longer in danger of fading, something he was grateful for. 

“You’re no fun,” Cecil pouted. “Nico wouldn’t help me either even though I am like your best friend.”

“Excuse me?” Lou Ellen objected. “Since when are you Will’s best friend?”

“One of your best friends,” Cecil corrected with a shrug. “You know, for all the rules you two break by going on your little ‘vacations’ and all, one would think a little heist would be nothing.”   
Will felt a blush run across his cheeks when Cecil mentioned ‘vacations’ with air quotes obviously implying that something else happened during their trips. Although it was true that he had gone a many trips with Nico, nothing ever happened. While most of their trips were to visit Will’s mother in Texas, the others they simply enjoyed being together away from the prying eyes of camp. Jason, Percy and Annabeth constantly made it clear to Will that if he hurt Nico they would make sure he would never return to camp. Of course on the flip side Cecil, Lou Ellen and Kayla had told Nico something similar. 

“We were visiting my mother,” Will protested weakly knowing his blush didn’t help his case.

“Riiiiight,” Cecil chuckled as he slapped Will’s back. “Well, regardless of what happens on your vacations, I guess we have to go save your boyfriend. Then you can take a nice long vacation at your mom’s house.” Will wondered what they had told his mother about his disappearance, if they even did. She was probably worried sick about him since he hadn’t contacted her in all that time. He only hoped that they had told her that he had gone a quest and wouldn’t be able to contact her until after, which would be partially the truth.

“I guess it is now or never.” Lou Ellen said as she stared down the dark pit.

“You guys can still go back.” Will offered.

“Oh no,” Lou Ellen protested with a hand on her hip and the other pointing an accusing finger towards Will. “Don’t start with this again. We are with you to the end. We are not leaving your side and that is final.”

“You’re stuck with us,” Cecil laughed. “At least until we get Nico back.” Cecil gave Will a wink causing him to groan and slap his forehead.

“Let’s go,” Will said as he stormed off toward the dark pit of Tartarus before he could be even more embarrassed by Cecil. The wind picked up speed as they approached the edge of Tartarus ready to pull them in. Will took a hand of his two friends as they stood at the very edge looking down into complete darkness. 

“Here we go!” Will shouted over the wind as they all jumped. As they fell, it reminded him similar to Alice jumping down the rabbit hole. Random objects just floated in place while they plummeted supposedly to their deaths. It didn’t occur to them that jumping down a giant dark pit was probably not the greatest idea, but it was one of the few ways to Tartarus so it wasn’t like they had much of a choice. 

“Didn’t Hesiod say it took nine days to get to the bottom of the pit?” Lou Ellen asked as she poked a random clock that flew by.

“Nine days?!” Cecil shouted, eyes wide with horror.

“I think the main problem we have to worry about is the landing.” Will sighed as he looked down only to see continuing darkness.

“I have a spell for that,” Lou Ellen said with a smile. “I can manipulate the winds to soften our landing. Did you really think that I would let us jump without having a plan?”

“I kind of thought we jumped without a plan.” Will admitted with a small smile. Lou Ellen just returned his smile with one of her own. It felt like they had been falling for hours maybe days and there still didn’t seem to be an end in sight. That was until a sudden bright light appeared below them combined with a burning heat. Lou Ellen started a chant as a burning wind caught them just before they crashed into the black ground. Cecil grabbed her as she swayed while Will took her hand singing the same hymn he had sung for Cecil.

“Thanks,” Lou Ellen panted as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. “Why is it so hot?”

“I don’t know,” Will answered as he took a few steps towards the entrance of the cave that glowed the colors of fire. “I thought Tartarus was supposed to be dark.” 

“It is,” clicked a female voice from above them. “The fire of Phlegethon is its only source of light.” There was a long silence as Lou Ellen and Cecil joined Will’s side, all eyes looking around the dark cavern for the source of the voice. 

“That is until a son of Apollo wandered here,” the voice continued with a hint of amusement. “Your light will allow me to return to the surface and take vengeance on that awful daughter of Athena and annoying son of Poseidon.”

“Arachne,” Will hissed as his eyes finally noticed the thousands of webs that filled the cave, each one faintly shimming silver in the light. He had heard the story of Annabeth and Percy falling into Tartarus because of Arachne, but they had managed to defeat her and escape. 

“Such a smart boy,” Arachne chuckled still remaining in the shadows, her voice bouncing off the walls of the cave. “Too bad it won’t help you here.” With one fluid motion, Will grabbed his father’s bow from his back and drew the string back forming an arrow of light. Like in the castle, the light from his father’s bow was dimmed, but bright enough to reveal Arachne’s location. She hissed from the light and regressed into the shadows that the light couldn’t reach.

“Cecil, Lou,” Will whispered as his eyes darted around the cave in an attempt to find Arachne’s location. “Backs together, keep your eyes peeled. Let’s slowly head towards the entrance of the cave while the light keeps her at bay.” Cecil and Lou Ellen both nodded as the three of them stood shoulder to shoulder, back to back, weapons drawn and eyes peeled. As a unit, they slowly started to make their way towards the entrance. Cecil went to cut down one of the webs that blocked their path, but instead of his blade cutting it, it got stuck.

“Caught in a web my prey?” Arachne laughed as Cecil struggled to get his blade back. “My webs cannot be destroyed. I will devour you son of Apollo and leave your two friends here in my webs to die from the toxic air of Tartarus. I am sure you can already feel it taking affect.” Will frowned knowing that Arachne was right. The air was already getting hard to breathe and his skin felt like it was on fire. A quick glance at his friends proved that they were suffering similarly. He started to sing a soft hymn of healing under his breath in an attempt to keep the poisonous air at bay. His father’s bow glowed a bit brighter as he sang, the power of the sun running through him.

“Your webs can’t be destroyed by anything?” Cecil asked as he gave up the task of trying to free his blade allowing it to just dangle from the web. 

“Nothing!” Arachne bragged. “Not while the power of Tartarus runs through me.”

“Then I guess you can’t even get out of this cave with all the webs blocking the path.” Cecil claimed with a shrug. “I would have thought the powerful Arachne would at least be able to destroy her own webs. Oh well, guess she is just a common house spider.” 

“Lies!” Arachne screamed as she emerged from the shadows just on the edge of where the light touched. “Of course I can destroy my webs! It is as easy as creating them!”

“Oh yeah?” Cecil taunted with a smirk. “Prove it. I would like to see indestructible webs be destroyed.” 

“I will!” Arachne announced as she turned from them starting to destroy the webs blocking their path. Cecil grabbed his now free sword as he locked eyes with Will. Will gave him a nod knowing that the moment the path was clear he would have to shoot Arachne with a light arrow. He only hoped that he wouldn’t miss. They followed Arachne through the now clear path towards the entrance of the cave. Once she cleared the final web she turned around in triumph.

“See stupid child!” Arachne bragged, her head held high. “Am I still just a common house spider now?”

“My bad,” Cecil apologized with a smile. “I guess you proved me wrong.” Will took the opportunity to aim at Arachne, take a deep breath and release his arrow. To everyone’s surprise the arrow flew right past Arachne not even leaving a scratch. Will felt himself deflate knowing that he had just let his friends and Nico down. He knew he was bad at archery, but he had never missed the target, even when he was younger.

“A child of Apollo bad at archery,” Arachne laughed as she turned to watch the light arrow disappear behind her. Cecil didn’t hesitate to run full speed at Arachne, sword drawn and ready. With a giant leap, he thrust his sword into Arachne’s abdomen where her human and spider half connected slicing to the right until it emerged from the flesh it was once buried in. Arachne screamed and hissed, her eight spider legs trying to find balance on the jagged rocks beneath her as she staggered backwards towards the edge of a cliff.

“Treacherous Demigod!” Arachne screamed in rage. “If I am to die, I am going to bring you with me!”

“Cecil!” Will screamed, but it was already too late. Arachne’s human arms grabbed Cecil close as they both disappeared off the side of the cliff. Will and Lou Ellen darted forward to the edge of the cave looking down the long drop to the shores of Phlegethon. Cecil was lying motionless on a small mound of dust that used to be Arachne.

“Cecil!” Will and Lou Ellen shouted in tandem. Will felt tears start to run down his cheeks as he looked down at his motionless friend. He knew he should have gone alone into Tartarus, but he allowed his friends to convince him otherwise. Now Cecil was dead or almost dead because of him. Everyone he loved and held dear seemed to die around him because he wasn’t strong enough to protect them. If he hadn’t missed his shot then Cecil wouldn’t of had to rush Arachne. A loud groan interrupted his thoughts as he looked back down at Cecil currently attempting to sit up only to fall back onto the pile of dust.

“I’m okay,” Cecil shouted and groaned with a weak thumbs up. “I think...”

“We have to get down there,” Will demanded with a frustrated sigh. He couldn’t tell from this high up what injuries he had sustained, but with a fall like that it couldn’t be good. Gods, this was all his fault. A healer wasn’t meant to go on a quest, they were meant to sit at camp and wait to heal those worthy of going on quests. Why did he ever think that he could save Nico? Nico was always the one saving him. 

“Will!” Lou Ellen yelled grabbing his shoulders and shaking him. “Focus! I have a way to get down there, but you need to be ready to heal him.”

“Y-yes,” Will stuttered as he nodded. Lou Ellen let him go as she chanted another spell, they both started to levitate with a couple of loose rock hovering around them in a circle. Her green eyes glowed bright, dark hair billowing in an invisible wind. As she slowly rose her arms out in front of her continuing her chant, they started to head down the cliff. Will had never seen Lou Ellen use her magic because she said that her main gift was control of the Mist. However, watching her now reminded him of the witches he saw in movies growing up, terrifyingly powerful. Once their feet hit the ground, her eyes and hair returned to normal as she took a wobbly step forward holding her head.

“Are you okay?” Will asked as he grabbed her arm to help keep her stable. Normally when he touched a demigod that had used their powers, he could feel how tired they were. That wasn’t the case when he touched Lou Ellen. The darkness seemed to radiate from her, not as if it was claiming her like when Nico started to fade, but as if she was claiming it. Green eyes met wide blue and held for a couple of moments.

“I’m fine,” Lou Ellen reassured with a soft smile finally breaking the silence. “Go heal Cecil.” Will nodded before running over to a groaning Cecil while placing Apollo’s bow securely on his back. Blue eyes looked Cecil over noticing his right arm was broken, multiple signs of internal bleeding and horrible blisters coving his body. He crouched down as he placed a gentle hand over his friend’s before singing a hymn of healing feeling his father’s bow vibrate against his back. Cecil’s wounds started to fade away, but the awful blisters remained. Will offered him a hand to help him up.

“Thanks,” Cecil panted as he took Will’s hand to get up. 

“Don’t you dare do that again you idiot!” Will cried pulling his friend into a hug. “I thought I had lost you.”

“It will take more than that spider witch to kill me.” Cecil chuckled pushing away from the hug with a wince. “Got any hymn to keep the poison of Tartarus away?”

“It is already fading,” Will answered softly, the air becoming harder to breathe again. “But the River Phlegethon is supposed to be the River of Healing.” He looked over at the burning river no more than a few yards away.

“Drink fire?” Cecil asked with a raised eyebrow as he bent over to place his hands on his knees panting. “You crazy?”

“It will work,” Lou Ellen stated as she grabbed one of Will’s and Cecil’s hands pulling them towards the river. Will followed her silently as he felt the darkness ripple off her in powerful waves. She seemed completely unaffected now by the poison of Tartarus, something that Will couldn’t begin to explain as his mind became fuzzy an unfocused. He collapsed to his knees, his body heavy as he gasped for air. A warm liquid was placed at his lips and he drank it feeling the spicy burn settle in his stomach before a warmth spread though his body. Despite feeling the poison leave from his body, he still felt tired. The healing hymns he had been using finally catching up as he fell asleep.

*****

Will awakened to the bouncing of a piggyback ride courtesy of Cecil. He was glad that his healing had saved his friend, but the power of Tartarus drastically limited it. Healing broken bones and internal bleeding was nothing for Will. During battles he healed similar wounds multiple times before becoming exhausted, now that was no longer a simple task. If he wasn’t able to heal his friends without passing out, then he was more of a dead weight than before. A sigh escaped his lips as he moved his dangling arms to Cecil’s shoulders.

“I’m awake,” Will announced softly. “You can put me down.”

“You sure?” Cecil asked, but still lowered Will off his back. “You have been out for a while.”

“Yeah,” Will answered as he looked around noticing Arachne’s cave was nothing more than a small dark hole in the side of the cliffs far away. “How long have I been out?”

“It’s hard to tell,” Cecil shrugged twisting his torso as he stretched. “But Lou said we couldn’t stay put otherwise psycho spider lady would come back.” Will’s attention turned to Lou Ellen, her black hair moving like the snakes of Medusa around her face, eyes glowing bright. The Mist seeped from Lou Ellen in a mix of black and white tendrils creating a barrier between them and the rest of Tartarus. 

“Lou,” Will said softly, watching his friend carefully. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Will.” Lou Ellen answered with an eerie smile. “You forget that my mother is a Titan.”

“You should have seen her!” Cecil exclaimed. “While we were drinking the fire water, monsters were already surrounding us. I felt better afterwards, but not a hundred percent yet. You were still out for the count probably from all the healing you were doing. Lou stepped up and saved the day. I don’t know if she put a curse on those daggers she grabbed or what, but she started throwing them like a professional ninja and the monsters just started to turn into dust. Then she went all dark and powerful like she is now, and the Mist has been covering us since.” 

Will just continued to look at Lou Ellen with concern. He knew that the darkness wasn’t consuming her, he had felt that earlier, but it still worried him. Even if her mother was a Titan, she was still half human meaning the power of Tartarus could still affect her negatively. And while she was able to defend against monsters, there were still full-fledged Titans that dwelled in Tartarus which they were lucky to not yet run into.

“Will,” Lou Ellen sighed, gently taking his hand green eyes meeting blue. “Stop giving me that Doctor Solace look. I’m not in danger of fading like Nico, I promise. So just focus on saving him. Okay?”

“I’m still keeping an eye on you,” Will countered stubbornly with a frown. “Just because the darkness is reacting differently, doesn’t mean it is any less dangerous.”

“Yes Doctor Solace,” Lou Ellen replied sarcastically with the roll of her eyes. “I suggest we keep moving then if you want me to stop using the darkness.” Will nodded in agreement before he looked down at the skull ring pointing the right, which were large cliffs that seems to never end while the left was the fiery river of Phlegethon. A deep frown plagued his face in annoyance.

“Yeah,” Cecil chuckled nervously. “We tried to follow that ring of yours, but as you can see we can’t really follow it. So we just figured we would follow along the cliffs until we could turn right. Sucks that my mapping skills from dad don’t transfer to Tartarus. Although I do feel my dad’s presence coming from somewhere ahead, as odd as that sounds.”

“Percy said there was a lost Shrine to Hermes here,” Will informed as he started to forward looking down at the ring for guidance. He remembered Percy and Annabeth talking to Nico about it once, but it was a rare occurrence considering none of the three liked to remember their time in Tartarus yet alone discuss it. 

“I wonder if my snow globe would work there.” Cecil muttered more to himself than to his friends, tapping his pointer finger to his chin in thought. “Could be our ticket out of here. We should check it out if it is on the way.” 

“It would be nice not to have to come all the way back here.” Lou Ellen agreed with a smile following next to Will. “What do you think?”

“As long as it is on the way,” Will answered as he sped up his pace. He didn’t know why, but there was a terrible feeling in the bottom of his stomach that Nico was in grave danger. Not just from fading away into Chaos, but something else. He didn’t know what could be worse than being claimed by Chaos, but whatever it was, it was causing Nico pain. Maybe it was because he was wearing the ring that was obviously connected to Nico, or maybe it was some other connect that allowed him to feel Nico’s pain. Regardless, he needed to get to Nico soon. 

Before he knew it he was running at full speed, the sound of his friends’ voices faded into the background. The world around him became an endless tunnel with no end as he desperately tried to follow the path the ring showed. Eventually the cliffs gave way to reveal a barren wasteland with a strange structure in the distance, a lake behind it and another river to the right. He stopped, taking in deep breaths unsure of how far or how long he had been running to take everything in. He looked down at the ring which was still pointing to the right towards a non-burning river. About to run towards the river, a hand landed on his shoulder keeping him in place and causing him to jump in shock. He turned around to see Lou Ellen looking at him with a frown, Cecil next to her with the bunny ears on his head, hands on knees panting.

“Damn you’re fast,” Cecil panted as he took the bunny ears off. “Not as fast as my bunny ears, but definitely faster than the two of us. What gives? Why did you take off like that?”

“Nico,” Will said turning his gaze back to the path the ring was pointing towards. “Something is wrong. We have to hurry.”

“Can you try and keep it to our pace?” Lou Ellen requested. “You are lucky that Cecil put those on to keep up with you so you wouldn’t be out of range of my Mist. You do remember that is probably the only thing keeping the monsters at bay and anything else from finding us right?”

“Sorry,” Will apologized before taking a few step ahead only to stop when Cecil squealed in delight seemingly over his exhaustion from using the bunny ears.

“That is has to be the lost Shrine to Hermes!” Cecil grinned as he pointed towards the structure off to the left. “We should go check it out.”

“We don’t have time,” Will announced turning back towards the river. “Nico needs our help.”

“Fine,” Cecil groaned. “But can we power-walk it? That magic ring you have there only points us in the direction we are supposed to go. We still don’t know how much further we have to even get to where Nico is and we definitely don’t want to show up exhausted from running the entire way.”

“As much as I hate to say this,” Lou Ellen sighed. “I am going to have to agree with Cecil on this one. I know how much you want to save Nico, but showing up to a battle already exhausted isn’t going to help him.”

“I know,” Will answered with a heavy sigh tears building in his eyes. “It is just...I don’t know why, but I can sense his pain or that something is wrong. What if we don’t make it in time? What if I have to watch him fade away again only this time there is literally nothing I can do to save him?” The tears started pouring out, his eye unable to contain them any longer. He felt so weak and helpless. Even if they did manage to get to Nico, there was no guarantee that they would succeed, that he would succeed. He had already failed to save Nico twice. Persephone had warned that saving him now would be extremely difficult even offering a pomegranate seed to aid in the process. He had almost lost Cecil only moments after entering Tartarus, and he didn’t have a clue what was happening to Lou Ellen, only that it scared him how close she was to the darkness. If it wasn’t for his friends, he wouldn’t have made it as far as he did, yet he had done close to nothing to help their quest progress. He had missed a lined up shot.

“Will,” Lou Ellen whispered taking his face between her hands. “Let’s go save Nico.” Will only nodded as they turned to the direction the ring pointed. 

“At a normal person pace,” Cecil added with an exhausted sigh. The three stood next to each other before heading towards the river in at a brisk pace unsure of what lurked in the darkness ahead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I am playing at the fact that Hecate states that her children aren't technically demi-gods since she herself is a Titan. That and I just feel like Lou Ellen would be just badass awesome. 
> 
> Of course coming up they are going to meet things that even she can't defend against as Will kind of hinted at in his thoughts. Let us just say, not all children of Nyx are nice like Thanatos and Hypnos. :)
> 
> Don't worry about Nico, this will end happily, but as everyone has said, saving him wouldn't be an easy task. I am sure you will be surprised at who they end up running into once they finally find Nico. bwahahahahaha
> 
> Anyways, until next time, hopefully sooner than later. Byes~


	15. Darkness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I thought it would be interesting to go to the perspective of Lou Ellen and Cecil for a bit, but Will finishes it up. (it is also due to the fact that they are separated.)

Lou Ellen looked around unsure of how she got separated from Will and Cecil surrounded by darkness. The last thing she remembered was finally being able to see something other than cliffs and the River Phlegethon as they were trying to make their way quickly in the direction Nico was in. Now she was alone in an all consuming darkness. A darkness that she couldn’t control. Was she fading? It certainly didn’t feel like she was fading, just trapped. 

“Poor Lou Ellen,” a voice very similar to her own whined to the right. “Such a disappointment, only able to cast magic in Tartarus.” Lou Ellen turned to the right to come face to face with herself, only with long, knee length braided blonde hair and deep chocolate brown eyes. Despite the person before her didn’t resemble her, she knew deep down that she was staring at a different version of herself. 

“Mother would be so disappointed,” another voice of hers sniffled behind her. “Not good enough to be the Head Counselor of the Hecate Cabin.” Lou Ellen turned around to meet another version of herself, yet this one had short strawberry blonde hair, a freckled face and ocean blue eyes. Her eyes darted back and forth between the two versions of herself in a panic. 

One of her brothers was said to have dissociative identity disorder before he was brought to camp, but with their mother being the goddess of three faces it was soon discovered that he indeed has three separate personalities. While the Mist in the outside world had kept all the mortals from seeing the physical changes each time he changed personalities, all the demigods could see it. Her brother had told her that his three forms and personalities were the physical versions of his power over the three crossroads in life inherited from their mother. That if he was around someone whose life was at a crossroad, he would turn to the form and personality most helpful in order to guide them to a better future. 

Lou Ellen looked between the two versions of herself once again. They were nothing like her brother’s other forms, both with cold mocking eyes that wanted to drag her down to nothingness, not help her find the correct path at the crossroads. 

“Why are you here?” Lou Ellen asked unable to hide the fear in her voice. “You aren’t my other forms at the crossroad.”

“But we are,” the blonde Lou Ellen replied with a mischievous smile. “Not all crossroad forms are as helpful and powerful as our brother’s.”

“Mother looks down on us,” the strawberry blonde Lou Ellen sniffled softly. “We have only mastered control over the Mist while our other siblings have mastered the more powerful talents given. The only reason why we are doing better with magic is because the power of Tartarus has boosted it.”

“That isn’t true,” Lou Ellen protested weakly as she felt the tears build up in her eyes. She wanted so badly to argue with these other forms of herself, but the more she thought about it, the more she agreed with them. Most of her siblings had mastered magic in such a way that the illusion and disappearing spells rivaled that of her control of the Mist. Her other siblings had themastered necromancy with only one more powerful, Nico, the son of Hades. Then there was her one brother that had the power of crossroads and prophecy even rivaling the Oracle of Delphi for he could see the possible futures without riddles blocking his visions. Of course he couldn’t tell anyone the future, only guide them towards the path most correct for the person. Which left Lou Ellen, the master of the Mist, something that each of her siblings had partial control over. While she was able to master a few spells, they weren’t that powerful and drained her considerably. 

“So if you are my crossroad forms,” Lou Ellen frowned in an attempt to hold back the tears. “What is my crossroad paths?”

“Misery,” the strawberry blonde Lou Ellen cried as she buried her face into her hands.

“Doom,” the blonde Lou Ellen smirked making a motion of slicing her throat.

“Madness,” Lou Ellen’s reflection in front of her said as it appeared as if she was looking in the mirror at a crazed version of herself.

“No,” Lou Ellen argued, hands clasping to the sides of her head as she shut her eyes shaking her head back and forth in denial. “Those can’t be my three crossroads.” She could feel herself losing control of the darkness, inwardly cursing herself for not listening to Will. She should have known that the dark power of Tartarus would be too much for her. It had boosted her magic, but at what cost?

“But they are,” the three crossroad versions of her sung in an eerie hymn. “It is what happens when you use the power of Tartarus, mortal.”

“No!” Lou Ellen shouted, tears running down her cheeks. “The darkness of Tartarus bends to my will! I am half Titian!”

“Mother is a Titian yes,” one of her crossroad selves laughed maniacally. “But the darkness of Tartarus serves only one! Nyx!”

“I will not give up!” Lou Ellen screamed as she attempted to force the darkness from her, no longer trying to control it. Slowly the darkness started to leave her, she could feel her own powers coming back to her with a soft warmth. However, her freedom from the darkness was short lived as it came back to her stronger and colder, filling her body with helplessness. 

“Nyx!” the three crossroad Lou Ellens chanted. “Give into the darkness. Join us.” 

“No...” Lou Ellen whimpered. “No...” She feel to her knees, clutching her head tighter in a desperate attempt to rid her head of the voices calling to her, telling her to give up and give into darkness. She knew that she shouldn’t give up, that her friends needed her, but her body and mind were starting to go numb from the coldness that surrounded her. She could feel herself unwillingly giving into darkness. Failure. That was the last thing she thought as the darkness consumed her. 

*****

“Will?! Lou?!” Cecil shouted as he looked around the dark empty room, minus the random table in the middle. The single source of light was a dangling dim light-bulb hanging right over the table reminding him of those old gangster movies. The walls weren’t walls at all, just darkness. Every time he attempted to go towards one, he would remain in the same spot he was within the light’s parameter. He smirked as he cracked his neck and stretched his arms. There was no room in the world that could keep him locked up, Chiron had tried. Granted, it would be more difficult without his trusty snow globe, but he was a son of Hermes and one thing that any child of Hermes was good at, it was getting in and out of trouble. 

Blue eyes scanned the semi-empty room, focusing on the light dangling from nothing but darkness. So he couldn’t leave the light, but what if he brought the light with him? He climbed onto the table to reach the light, only to find that it seemed farther than it originally had. 

“Interesting,” Cecil mumbled to himself as he tapped his chin in thought. It was clear that this room was made to keep him in the light, but keep that source of light just out of his reach so he couldn’t move it. The wheels in his head started to turn as he calculated and formulated a plan to get the light to him. As he was about to proceed with his plan, a figure stepped out of the shadows looking very much like the mobsters he had been envisioning when he first found himself in the room he was in. 

“Care for a game?” the man asked, golden eyes shimmering underneath the shadow his hat cast. 

“What kind of game?” Cecil asked with a small smirk. Games were something he excelled at because cheating was the true game for him. 

“A game of trickery,” the man answered with a smile. “Something a son of Hermes should be good at.”

“Obviously,” Cecil bragged with the roll of his eyes. “You’re looking at one of the best.”

“Then winning should be easy for you,” the man offered, his soft chuckle echoing through the room. “Shall we bet on the outcome?”

“What are the stakes?” Cecil asked nervously. Normally the thought of a game would delight him, even if the stakes were high since it was more than likely he was going to win. However, the way the man before him remained so calm and collected made him wonder who exactly he was going against. 

“If you win,” the man presented, his left hand lifting up with the palm up. “You can leave with your friends and continue your quest.”

“And if you win?” Cecil asked with a low growl no longer enjoying the idea of a game when his friends’ lives where at stake. 

“You will all die.” the man answered simply with a small shrug.

“What’s the game?” Cecil requested, fists clenched to his sides. 

“How well do you think you know your friends?” the man asked, his left hand still up snapped causing him to disappear. “Find which ones are your true friends, escape and you win.” the voice echoed through the darkness. “Of course, if you escape with the wrong ones, you’ll all die.”

“Bring it,” Cecil demanded. “Lou was in the Hermes Cabin for a couple of years before she was claimed by Hecate and moved to the Hecate Cabin. Will is always an open book for those that know him. I will be able to tell if you are tricking me or not.” 

Lou Ellen had been his partner in crime for as long as he could remember since arriving at Camp Half-Blood. She had power over the Mist early on, and it only grew when she was finally claimed by her mother. He had been devastated when she had to move to the newly built Hecate Cabin with her fellow siblings. It meant that she now had her own siblings to rely on, not to mention the responsibilities of becoming the head of the Hecate Cabin. Thankfully, their friendship didn’t suffer because of it and that was ultimately due to Will. Will was the their group’s center and glue. 

“Such confidence,” the voice laughed and mocked shaking Cecil from his thoughts. “Good, good. It will be so much more delicious when you fail.”

The darkness around Cecil shifted to reveal a dark damp looking dungeon with prison cells lining the the sides of the narrow hallway he was now in the middle of. He heard various sounds coming from the prison cells - crying, shouting, screaming and more. Slowly, he moved to the first cell to look inside. Lou Ellen was in the middle of the cell, on her knees, eyes closed with her hands clutched to the side of her head. 

“I can’t fight it!” she screamed in agony. “The darkness is too strong!”

“Lou!” Cecil shouted as he grabbed the cell bars pushing himself against them forgetting he was being tested. “You can beat it! You are stronger than it!” 

Lou Ellen’s eyes shot open, her head snapping up at the sound of his voice. Her pupils were dilated, hiding the normal green behind black pits. Darkness swirled around her in dark clouds of power as she slowly levitated herself off the floor, hair growing longer as it fanned behind her. 

“I can’t,” Lou Ellen choked out as her eyes rolled back into her head and she collapsed to the floor. The darkness starting to consume her, her body flickering in and out of existence. 

“Lou!” Cecil shouted again. “Don’t give up! You have never given up with magic even though all you can use are small spells, why would you give up now? Wake up and fight it! You are stronger than this!”

“I can’t,” Lou Ellen muttered, her eyes fluttering open filled with tears. “I should have listened to Will. The darkness of Tartarus is too powerful to control.”

“Then don’t control the darkness!” Cecil suggested. “Fight it!”

“It is too late to fight,” Lou Ellen whispered as she closed her eyes. “The darkness is winning. Nyx rules the darkness.” At the name of the goddess of night, Cecil remembered that he was being tested. If Lou Ellen was talking about Nyx, then the man he had met earlier was surely one of her children. Child of Nyx, and likes trickery.

“Lou never gives up!” Cecil shouted up at the ceiling. “Nice try Dolos.”

“Wrong!” Dolos’ voice echoed in a mocking laugh. “She is giving up. She is giving into my siblings with my power of deception shrouding their true forms. Soon she will be overcome with madness and misery only to fall into the clutches of doom.”

“You’re wrong!” Cecil protested still shouting up at the ceiling. “We all have our doubts and uncertainties, but we have never succumb to them completely. With the help of our friends, we overcome them.”

“Foolish child,” Dolos’ voice snickered. “Don’t you see? You have lost our game because you believe too much in your friends, that is the greatest trick of all. Not being able to believe that your friends are giving up even with you beside them. Now you will be consumed by the darkness forever.” Before Cecil could do anything else, he started to fall. Darkness wrapped around his body, filled his body as if he had fallen into an icy pond. He tried to struggle against it, only to have the darkness win as he lost consciousness. 

*****

Will narrowed his eyes as he pulled his fathers bow into ready position. The light from the bow flickered weakly as it attempted to fight off the never ending darkness. He had no idea how he came to be here, or where Lou Ellen and Cecil were, but one thing was certain, he wasn’t going down without a fight. 

“Lou? Cecil?” Will called out into the darkness hoping they were near just hidden. No answer. He frowned as he continued forward, only to find no matter how far he walked, nothing but darkness surrounded him. It felt like he had been walking for hours, yet nothing changed, just darkness, his father’s bow the only source of light.

“Give up, Will.” Nico’s voice said from behind causing Will to turn to face him. “You are never going to be able to save me. You can’t even protect yourself.” Will just blinked at Nico before him as he processed what he had said. He knew that Nico would be angry at him for coming all this way to save him, but he would never tell him to give up.

“You’re not Nico,” Will growled, raising his bow. “So you might as well stop pretending and show yourself.”

“I am Nico,” ‘Nico’ replied sadly looking down. “I guess you really have forgotten too much about me.”

“My memories are clear,” Will protested not lowering his bow. “Nico would never tell me to give up. He would call me stupid, stubborn, impulsive, reckless and many more things for coming here to rescue him. He would say that I shouldn’t have come, that he wasn’t worth putting my life on the line for his, but he would never tell me to give up.”

“But you have forgotten before,” ‘Nico’ pointed out, his hands clutching the bottom of his black shirt. “It is possible that you are still missing memories.”

“I’m not,” Will claimed. “I will never forget Nico again. Even if I fail again and he fades completely, I will never forget. Now get out of my way so I can find the real Nico.”

“I am Nico,” 

“You aren’t”

“I am”

“Prove it”

“If you loved me I wouldn’t need to prove it.”

Will felt himself falter at that statement, his bow lowering slightly. Was he making a mistake? Could this really be Nico in front of him? He looked forward at the ring on his finger, it wasn’t turned to any particular side, the red eyes just blinked like a traffic light that had gone out. It had never done that before. His blue eyes landed on the Nico before him. He wanted to believe that it was Nico, but something didn’t feel right. Even if the Nico before him could answer all his questions, he didn’t know if he would still believe it. So lost in thought he didn’t notice the Nico charging at him until it was too late, his father’s bow ripped from his hand and flung into the darkness.

A scream of pain escaped him as something found its way into his abdomen and through his back. He dared a glance down seeing the familiar black sword made out of Stygian iron running through him, now coated in his own blood.

“How does it feel to be killed by the one you love?” asked an unfamiliar female voice from ‘Nico’. 

“You aren’t Nico,” Will gasped before he started coughing up blood. “Nico would never hurt me. Even if someone was controlling him.” His vision started to blur, his breathing came out in pained gasps. 

“Love,” the stranger’s voice spat in disgust. “So blinding sometimes.” The image of Nico disappeared to reveal a sinister looking woman with long black hair, hollow black eyes and an untrustworthy face. She removed the sword from him with a wet sound as more blood splattered the floor.

Will fell to his knees desperately clutching the wound with one hand, while his other reached into his satchel looking for the ambrosia. He wasn’t going to die here, he couldn’t. He was going to save Nico. Something cold and hard hit him on the side of his head, flinging him a couple of feet before he crumbled to the floor in pain. Darkness started to creep at the edges of his vision as he tried to find the ambrosia that had fallen from his hand, but it was a fruitless attempt. His body was on fire from the pain, the icy fingers of unconsciousness starting to take hold. 

“I told you to give up,” the woman laughed cruelly from somewhere above him. “Stupid son of Apollo coming to where darkness rules supreme. Your light will be such a great addition to mother’s collection, that is until it goes out completely.” She let out another cruel laugh as he felt a pressure on his back.

Will felt tears leak from his eyes as he tried to remain conscious, but the darkness was closing in. A light flickered at the end of the darkness. Even though he knew when close to death you weren’t supposed to go towards the light, he reached out for it. To his surprise it answered and came to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am sure that you have figured out the three daimons that Lou Ellen is facing considering the fact they pretty much told you, but I am curious to see if anyone can guess the one that Will is going against. 
> 
> Next chapter they will finally reach Nico, the real Nico. ;)
> 
> Until next time. Byes~

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I hope you liked it. If you did leave a comment, kudos, bookmark whatever you want. If not, leave some questions, comments or concerns and hopefully it will make this story that much better. :) Until next time...


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